"These U.S. Kids Have Higher Autism Risk Under New EPA Rule"

"Scott Pruitt’s rejection of an organophosphates ban may endanger the children of those who harvest produce."

"Anyone reading about the Trump administration refusal to block agricultural use of a dangerous pesticide may find themselves staring at a bag of oranges, thinking: Will these hurt my family?

Probably not. While consumers trundling through supermarkets across the country worry about their children, those most at risk are a smaller group: mostly Hispanic, their parents are often the undocumented immigrants who live near farms and pick the pesticide-laden produce.

On Wednesday, Scott Pruitt, the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, signed an order (PDF) effectively rejecting his agency’s advice to ban chlorpyrifos, a popular (PDF) insecticide, from being used to keep bugs off such crops as walnuts, broccoli, and oranges. Chlorpyrifos is a member of the pesticide class organophosphates. Multiple studies show that eating food grown with the pesticide will in turn expose you to it, with children especially susceptible to its risks. But it’s far worse for those who live and work around the chemical, and worse still if they do both."

Deena Shanker reports for Bloomberg April 3, 2017.

SEE ALSO:

"E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide" (New York Times)

"E.P.A., Citing Risks to Children, Signs Accord to Limit Insecticide" (New York Times: June 9, 2000)

Opinion: "Protect Our Children’s Brains" (New York Times)