No, I don’t know how to pronounce it. It is an insecticide made by Dow Chemical. EPA scientists recommended that it be permanently banned from farms nationwide because of potential harm to farmworkers and children. The chemical was banned in 2000 for most household uses, but it is still used on about 40,000 farms on about 50 crops.
Among the possible results of the use of chlorpyrifos are learning and memory declines, particularly among young children. Scott Pruitt, the new EPA director, decided that the agency needed more time to study the chemical before taking action.
Dow Chemical says we need not worry.
Information for this post is from an article by Eric Lipton in the Times, Mar. 30, entitled “E.P.A. Chief Won’t Ban Insecticide Thought to Be Risky.”
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