The EPA “proposed a zero-tolerance policy for food-borne residues of a pesticide widely used on edible crops nationwide, effectively ending its application to more than a dozen food crops including tree nuts, soybeans, corn, wheat, apples and citrus,” reports the Los Angeles Times. The agency, prodded by a U.S. appeals court in August to act on chlorpyrifos, “said it no longer could be confident that combined exposure from food and drinking water was safe for the public.” The insecticide, sold under brand names such as Lorsban and Dursban, was put on the market by Dow in 1965.
The EPA was under order from the appeals court to act by Saturday on the insecticide. In its announcement, the agency said the court order interrupted its ongoing review of the safety of the chemical and left some issues unresolved. It intends to complete work by December on the proposal to revoke tolerance levels in food for chlorpyrifos.
The government banned the pesticide from residential use nearly 15 years ago, and in 2006 it revised tolerance levels for residues and limited the crops on which it could be used. Environmental groups petitioned years ago for the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos altogether. The Natural Resources Defense Council said there is enough evidence to ban the chemical now. The American Farm Bureau Federation said “chlorpyrifos is an important crop protection tool we don’t want to lose,” said the Times.