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By Monica Medina and Rozi Beresin-Scher, ODP Contributing Writer
The Trump Administration announced last week that it has rejected the settled scientific evidence linking the pesticide chlorpyrifos to serious health problems, particularly in children. This pesticide, which is widely used on soybeans, almonds, grapes, and other crops, has been proven to harm children’s neurological development. The agency now claims that the science on the subject “remains unresolved,” which directly contradicts the agency’s own conclusions from just 5 years ago. In 2017, the Trump administration reversed Barack Obama’s 2015 pledge to ban chlorpyrifos. Now, the EPA is arguing that the scientific research itself is inconclusive by excluding several perfectly conclusive studies by citing “lack of access to raw data,” according to The New York Times.
Why this matters: Under the false flag of transparency, EPA is putting children at greater risk. The agency is now disregarding the science it previously relied upon apparently due to a proposed new rule allowing it to disregard studies where the patients’ identities and medical records are kept anonymous, a common practice in clinical research. As the New York Times put it when the “transparency” rule was first proposed, “[this] regulation would let the federal government dismiss or downplay some of the most important environmental research of the past decades.” It looks like that is exactly what EPA just did — despite the potential harm to children and farm workers.
Fetal exposure to chlorpyrifos has been linked to lower birth weight, learning disabilities, and loss of working memory for toddlers. As Earthjustice explained in its statement reacting to the EPA’s decision, “chlorpyrifos is just one of dozens of organophosphates (OP) pesticides linked with damage to the developing brains of children. A growing body of evidence shows that prenatal exposure to very low levels of chlorpyrifos — levels far lower than what EPA used to set regulatory limits — harms babies permanently. Studies show that exposure to chlorpyrifos, and other OP pesticides during pregnancy, is associated with lower birth weight, attention deficit disorders, autism spectrum disorder, reduced IQ, and loss of working memory.” Earthjustice sued the agency on behalf of dozens of farmworkers and health groups at the time when it first withdrew the Obama rule and won. In July of 2019 even when ordered to do so by the court, EPA refused to ban chlorpyrifos from food, a decision which Earthjustice again challenged in a case that is still pending.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has required PFAS, cancer-causing chemicals used in manufacturing, in firefighting gear for years despite cancer being the leading killer of firefighters. An extensive investigative two-part story by E&E News’ Ariel Wittenberg reveals not only the dangers of current equipment standards but the lengths the NFPA has gone to hide them.
Why This Matters: A study of 30,000 firefighters from 2010 to 2015 found that firefighters have an increased risk of many different cancers including: leukemia, malignant mesothelioma, bladder and prostate cancers, lung cancer, brain cancer, and digestive and oral cancers.
by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer World Health Organization expert Dr. Peter Ben Embarek revealed this week that the organization’s team of researchers have found two scenarios that could have transferred COVID-19 to humans. He acknowledges that COVID-19 could have been transmitted through frozen products at the Wuhan fish market, but the most likely scenario […]
By Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study published Monday has found that a second, sneezier plague is ramping up. Allergy seasons have increased in duration by an average of 20 days since 1990. Why? Rising temperatures and an abundance of atmospheric carbon are increasing the amount of pollen in the air, and researchers say the […]
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