Notes

Chemistry "Hit List" Project Letter of Petition:

According to epa.gov “Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide, acaricide and miticide used primarily to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests on a variety of food and feed crops.” Organophosphates are chemical substances produced by the reaction of alcohols and phosphoric acid (H3PO4). Hydrolysis can be performed to separate the alcohol. Chlorpyrifos is also a neurotoxic pesticide. Organophosphates work by disrupting the enzyme, acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down the acetylcholine neurotransmitter, which sends out signals to other nerve endings in the body. Without these neurotransmitters from the brain, the nerves in the human body cannot function properly. In term, Chlorpyrifos can damage the developing brains of children, cause reduced IQ, loss of working memory, and attention deficit disorders to humans, specifically children, exposed to this chemical. As a result, I am petitioning for Chlorpyrifos to be included in the Environment Protection Agency’s chemical ban list.

One of the most adverse health effects of Chlorpyrifos is that exposure to low levels of the chemical has been shown to negatively affect various aspects of cognitive development in humans in several studies. In California's Salinas Valley, a UC Berkeley study found that the group exposed to the highest levels of organophosphate during pregnancy was associated with a 7-point drop in IQ scores in 7-year-olds. A UC Davis study found that mothers who live within a mile of fields where chlorpyrifos pesticides were applied had a 60 percent higher chance of having children with autism spectrum disorder. Also, a recent study found associations between exposure to chlorpyrifos and changes to the architecture of the brain in 7-year old children.
In addition to harming the health of American citizens, Chlorpyrifos negatively affects the environment and ecosystems. For animals that are highly sensitive to chlorpyrifos, exposure to minute concentrations can be lethal. The EPA indicates that a single application of chlorpyrifos poses significant risks, especially to endangered species. Fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles and small mammals, as well as bees, and other beneficial insects are vulnerable to the potent insecticide. Chlorpyrifos is moderately persistent in soil and can take weeks to years to break down. The insecticide can also reach rivers, lakes, and streams, where it concentrates in the fatty tissue of fish.

The adverse social effects of Chlorpyrifos include stress on families and specifically mothers of children with birth defects. Mothers of infants with very low birth weights, which is a factor closely related to birth defects, experience greater psychological stress than mothers of normal weight infants. Overall, studies have shown that families of children with birth defects may experience more distress, as measured by higher levels of mental health treatment, than families of children without birth defects. Similarly, children with birth defects have been shown to experience the difficulty in psychosocial adjustment. According to parentprojectmd.org, “Psychosocial adjustment can be defined as the adaptive task of managing upsetting feelings and frustrations aroused by the illness, and preserving an emotional balance.”

However, Chlorpyrifos is not entirely negative. Chlorpyrifos beneficially impacts the economy. Chlorpyrifos is used extensively in the agricultural industry due to its effectiveness at eliminating dangerous pests and its inexpensive cost. Insecticides like Chlorpyrifos enable U.S. farmers to produce and harvest higher marketable yields than would otherwise be possible. By mitigating the effects of crop-feeding insects, U.S. farmers produce 144 billion pounds of additional food, feed, and fiber and reap $22.9 billion in farm income increases. However, these statistics from the Department of Agriculture reflect the use of a full range of pesticides. Regardless of how much money Chlorpyrifos may make, it may never make enough money to compensate for families whose children have experienced permanent, debilitating birth defects nor enough to fully restore affected ecosystems and environments to their former glory and beauty. For these reasons, I urge that the EPA puts Chlorpyrifos on its chemical ban list.