Earthjustice has introduced a go well with in opposition to the EPA on behalf of farmworker and public well being teams for failure to reply to a petition calling for the company to ban organophosphate pesticides1. The go well with was filed June 25, 4 years after Earthjustice filed the petition urging the company to take motion in opposition to using this harmful class of pesticides.
The Dangers of Organophosphate Pesticides
Organophosphates (OPs) have been linked to behavioral issues in kids and, at excessive ranges, are deadly to farmworkers and people in farm communities. In 2021, at the least 25 kids in India have been killed from consuming contaminated rice, soybeans, and lentils2. And the listing goes on — in Uganda, almost 1,600 deaths have been linked to the pesticide between 2017 and 20223. This 12 months, the South African authorities banned organophosphate terbufos following the demise of six kids who had eaten contaminated snacks4.
“Farmworkers are the primary to face hurt, however shut behind are individuals, together with kids, who dwell or attend colleges close to handled fields, or go to ‘pick-your-own’ farms the place crops are handled with pesticides,” mentioned Dr. Jennifer Sass, Senior Scientist at NRDC (Pure Sources Protection Council).
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Even Low-Stage Publicity Can Trigger Hurt
Even low-level organophosphate publicity has been proven to hurt mind improvement in kids. A 2010 research in Pediatrics discovered a hyperlink between the presence of organophosphates in kids’s urine and the danger of creating ADHD5.
“The EPA acknowledged a decade in the past that organophosphates can impair kids’s studying and behaviors, however the authorities retains dragging its toes,” mentioned Patti Goldman, senior legal professional at Earthjustice. “Our kids deserve long-overdue EPA motion so that they don’t undergo preventable hurt.”
And that’s not the one threat of low-level publicity. A 2025 research in Atmosphere Worldwide confirmed that organophosphates might have a unfavorable impact on intestine microbiota, which might result in linked points together with temper problems and metabolic illness6. A 2025 research in Genes & Illnesses discovered a hyperlink between organophosphate publicity and male infertility7, and a 2016 research in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica discovered a hyperlink between organophosphate publicity and the danger of creating Parkinson’s Illness8.
What Are Organophosphates?
Organophosphates have been initially derived in Germany within the Nineteen Forties from World Warfare II nerve brokers (we all know, it’s precisely as dangerous because it sounds). Right now, they’re extensively used as pesticides on strawberries, citrus, peaches, and wheat.
They’re not the primary pesticides to attract consideration for his or her harmful results, they usually received’t be the final — we’ve coated how pesticides wreak havoc on our bee inhabitants, trigger degenerative problems, and have been linked to most cancers. Understanding these dangers is vital if we need to take management of our well being, and it’s what Earthjustice goals to do on our behalf with this lawsuit.
Which Organophosphates Are We Speaking About?
About 40 organophosphates are nonetheless authorised to be used in america, however a lot of the research on their toxicity have targeted on chlorpyrifos, which has traditionally been one of the vital extensively used of those pesticides within the U.S. The EPA banned chlorpyrifos in 2021 following a problem filed by Earthjustice9, however the ban was overturned on enchantment in 2023.
Right now, chlorpyrifos can nonetheless be used on 11 crops within the U.S., together with fruits like apples, oranges, peaches, and cherries (almost all of that are gadgets that made the EWG’s Soiled Dozen listing of produce with the very best pesticide publicity). To present you a way of how a lot the EPA actually is dragging its toes, chlorpyrifos has been banned within the UK since 2016, within the EU and Thailand since 2020, and in Canada since December 2023.
In 2024, the EPA proposed phasing out one other organophosphate, acephate, as a result of considerations relating to ingesting water contamination10. Regardless of this proposal, a plan to take action has but to materialize.
“Contemplating the truth that EPA’s personal scientists have publicly expressed concern about EPA threat analyses for organophosphates not adequately addressing exposures to infants and youngsters, it’s unconscionable that the EPA continues to control OPs primarily based on business’s financial pursuits fairly than sound, health-protective science,” mentioned Margaret Reeves, Ph.D., senior scientist at Pesticide Motion and Agroecology Community.
Sources:
- https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2025.06.25-op-mandamus-petition.pdf
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tradition/article/130718-organophosphates-pesticides-indian-food-poisoning
- https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/information/nationwide/report-links-1-600-deaths-to-pesticide-poisoning-4441718
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/cash/different/officials-ban-toxic-product-that-caused-widespread-food-poisoning-we-will-now-likely-see-the-deaths-of-children-from-this-poison-decline-rapidly/ar-AA1HMYRA
- https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/125/6/e1270/72448/Consideration-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Dysfunction-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202500220X
- https://www.alphagalileo.org/en-gb/Merchandise-Show/ItemId/260403?returnurl=https://www.alphagalileo.org/en-gb/Merchandise-Show/ItemId/260403
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ane.12707
- https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/in-shocking-decision-Eighth-circuit-sends-chlorpyrifos-food-use-ban-back-to-epa
- https://earthjustice.org/press/2024/epa-proposes-banning-toxic-food-pesticide-over-drinking-water-concerns
