California Seeks to Ban a Pesticide Linked to Developmental Disabilities

California is one of several states seeking to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to prenatal side effects in some studies. The pesticide has already been banned in Hawaii and there are efforts in Congress to ban it nationally. If California is successful in passing legislation curbing chlorpyrifos, the move from a large agricultural state could have a huge impact on its use nationwide.

“’I don’t see this as something we should still be debating,’ said Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an epidemiologist and director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of California-Davis.

According to KSBY in California’s Central Coast, “Hertz-Picciotto testified during a California Senate Health Committee hearing April 10 on California’s bill to ban use of the pesticide. She said more than three-dozen studies have demonstrated a connection between prenatal exposure of chlorpyrifos and developmental disabilities, including symptoms of autism.

“’No study has identified a level at which we can consider it safe,’ she told lawmakers.”

Read more about the chlorpyrifos controversy here.