EPA/TRUMP PEOPLE/SCOTT PRUITT: “Some of the most compelling evidence linking a widely used pesticide to developmental problems in children stems from what scientists call a ‘natural’ experiment.
Though in this case, there was nothing natural about it.
Chlorpyrifos (pronounced klor-PYE-ruh-fahs) had been used to control bugs in homes and fields for decades when researchers at Columbia University began studying the effects of pollutants on pregnant mothers from low-income neighborhoods. Two years into their study, the pesticide was removed from store shelves and banned from home use, because animal research had found it caused brain damage in baby rats.
The Columbia study did not prove definitively that the pesticide had caused the children’s developmental problems, but it did find a dose-response effect: The higher a child’s exposure to the chemical, the stronger the negative effects.
In March, the new chief of the E.P.A., Scott Pruitt, denied a 10-year-old petition brought by environmental groups seeking a complete ban on chlorpyrifos. In a statement accompanying his decision, Mr. Pruitt said there ‘continue to be considerable areas of uncertainty’ about the neurodevelopmental effects of early life exposure to the pesticide.”
-Roni Caryn Rabin, “A Strong Case Against a Pesticide Does Not Faze E.P.A. Under Trump,” The New York Times online, May 15, 2017