Toxic Re-runs: The EPA's Chemical Comeback Tour
THE CLAIM: They're Calling it a 'Revocation' Newsweek reports the EPA—under the Trump administration at the time of the article (2018)—"revoked" the ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide previously prohibited due to its neurotoxic effects. The agency claimed there were "critical data gaps." How convenient. This wasn't the first time; it had been banned in 2000 for residential use due to its impact on
children, only to see its agricultural use continue. THE EVIDENCE: The Public Record of Poison Chlorpyrifos, manufactured by Dow Chemical (now Corteva Agriscience), has a storied history of controversy. The pesticide is a known neurotoxin, particularly harmful to children's developing brains. Studies from Columbia University (2012) and the University of California, Berkeley (2015) have
consistently linked prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos with lower IQs, attention deficit disorders, and developmental delays in children. The Obama administration's EPA, in fact, moved to ban all uses of chlorpyrifos in 2015, citing these very concerns and proposing a final ban in 2016 based on scientific assessments. That's not a 'data gap'; that's a data chasm deliberately ignored. THE
CONTRADICTIONS: Whose Science Are We Trusting? Curiously, the 'science' the Trump EPA cited to justify its reversal seemed to align perfectly with industry interests. Dow Chemical, which has spent millions lobbying Congress and federal agencies, reportedly donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee (New York Times, 2017). One might wonder why, just a month after this donation, then-EPA