Makers of the insecticide chlorpyrifos will modify their product labels to reduce runoff and spray drift of the pesticide into the habitat of endangered species and to limit the areas of the country where the chemical is used, said the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. The EPA also said it would propose a regulation limiting the use of chlorpyrifos to 11 crops.
“Based on the available data, retaining only the 11 food uses (along with geographic limitations and mitigation measures) could decrease average annual pounds of chlorpyrifos applied in the United States by 70 percent as compared to historical usage,” the EPA said.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, said the organophosphate pesticide should be banned altogether. “Chlorpyrifos is one of the most hazardous pesticides used in the United States. This brain-damaging poison threatens imperiled wildlife and farmworker communities.”
The EPA said the new labels for chlorpyrifos would include restrictions on when it could be applied, restrictions on tank mixing, and “use limitations related to both runoff and drift, as well as wind speed restrictions.” The agency said its online Endangered Species Protection Bulletins would set geographic limitations on use of the insecticide to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
Chlorpyrifos has been used as a pesticide since 1965, primarily to control foliage- and soil-borne insects. Early this decade, the EPA revoked tolerances for chlorpyrifos effective Feb. 28, 2022. The U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis overturned the EPA decision on Nov. 2, 2023, and remanded the issue to the agency, which reinstated the tolerances on Dec. 28, 2023. At that point, the EPA said it was talking to pesticide makers about modifying tolerances for 11 crops, including alfalfa, apples, citrus, cotton, soybeans, and wheat.