Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed DEC to take immediate action to ban aerial use of chlorpyrifos. DEC will also have regulations in place to ban chlorpyrifos for all uses, except spraying apple tree trunks, by December 2020. Chlorpyrifos will be banned for all uses by July 2021. These actions will protect New Yorkers from significant adverse public health impacts, especially for children.
“Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide that has the potential to cause serious health problems in people who ingest it,” Governor Cuomo said. “I am directing the state department of environmental conservation to ban the use of this toxic substance to help ensure New York families aren’t needlessly exposed to a dangerous chemical.”
While organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos has been banned for residential use since 2001, it is still currently approved for use in fifty different products, the majority of which are registered for use in agricultural production. The largest agricultural market for chlorpyrifos in terms of total pounds of active ingredient is corn. It is also used on soybeans, fruit and nut trees, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, seed treatments, as well as other row crops. Non-agricultural uses include golf courses, turf, green houses, and on non-structural wood treatments such as utility poles and fence posts. Scientific research has shown that chlorpyrifos can harm the development of nervous systems of infants and young children. Prenatal exposure to organophosphates can result in diminished cognitive ability, delays in motor development and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
DEC
2019