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Press Release June 25, 2025

EPA Sued for Allowing Nerve-Agent Pesticides on Our Fruit and Vegetables

Lawsuit pushes for ban on organophosphates after years of government delay and known harms to children

From the Experts March 17, 2025

Farmworkers Feed America. Why Do We Let Them Suffer?

Behind every bite of salad in the break room, every fruit in a lunch box, every meal at dinner, lies the hand of a farmworker — drenched in pesticides, soaked in sweat, and now, likely facing the risk of deportation.

Clockwise from top left: Laura Beth Resnick of Butterbee Farm. (Alyssa Schukar for Earthjustice) Controlled burn during BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. (Petty Officer First Class John Masson / U.S. Coast Guard) Subway train on the 7 line in Queens, New York City. (Marco Bottigelli / Getty Images) An oil-coated feather on a Florida beach in 2010, following the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. (Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley / U.S. Air Force)
feature June 27, 2025

Our Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration

We will defend the progress we have made and keep moving forward.

Press Release August 6, 2024

Farmworkers Back Environmental Protection Agency’s Suspension of Toxic Herbicide

Exposure to DCPA, or Dacthal, is linked to serious health risks in pregnant farmworkers and developing babies

document June 25, 2025

Court Filing: Trump’s EPA Sued for Allowing Nerve-Agent Pesticides on Our Fruit and Vegetables

Farmworker and public health groups represented by Earthjustice, sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to respond to a petition to ban organophosphates pesticides, a class of chemicals used on fruits, vegetables, and field crops. In utero exposures to organophosphates are linked to autism, attention deficit disorders and impaired cognition in school-age children. They also cause countless instances of farmworker and community poisonings every year.

A farmworker harvesting strawberries in Salinas, about 20 miles from the Pajaro Valley. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 4, 2024

Teachers, Community Groups, and Farmworkers File Lawsuit Challenging Toxic Pesticide Approvals Near Public Schools in Monterey County

Regulators are failing to protect children from repeat exposure to the most dangerous pesticides

Press Release February 3, 2023

Earthjustice Applauds Legislation to Rein In Factory Farms and Protect Farmworkers and Consumers from Harmful Pesticide Exposure

Earthjustice urges the Senate to hold the industry accountable and ensure consumer and worker safety at all levels of our food supply chain

Press Release July 15, 2013

Farmworkers Come to Capitol Hill Seeking Safeguards

Farmworkers from across the nation to meet with Congress to demand basic protections from exposure to hazardous pesticides

Press Release: Victory August 9, 2018

Court Slams EPA Failure To Protect Children And Farmworkers From Toxic Pesticide

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered to ban chlorpyrifos within 60 days

Press Release October 30, 2020

EPA Guts Pesticide Spraying Safeguards for Farmworkers

Two million farmworkers are now more vulnerable to pesticide poisoning

The farmworkers who help bring fresh fruit and produce to your table aren’t protected by the safety standards most workers in the U.S. enjoy. Maria, a farmworker for more than two decades, stands in a California farm field. See Maria's story.
(Dave Getzschman for Earthjustice)
Press Release May 30, 2018

Farmworkers Sue Trump’s EPA for Illegally Shelving New Pesticide Training Materials

Delaying pesticide training materials puts the health of workers and families at risk

EPA has failed to protect children from pesticides when they drift from treated fields into nearby yards, homes, schools, parks and daycare centers. (Rob Marmion / Shutterstock)
Press Release September 21, 2016

Farmworker Advocates Call For Suspension of Highly Toxic Pesticide

Advocates from across the country urge EPA to swiftly ban chlorpyrifos citing unacceptable risks to farmworkers and their families

Press Release January 29, 2014

Farmworker Organizations Applaud Progress on Updating Weak Worker Protections

Leaders call for strong standards to protect vulnerable workers from toxic exposure

Cesar E. Chavez lecturing at Colegio Cesar Chavez in 1977. During National Farmworker Awareness Week, we honor those who have brought food to our tables and advocate for stronger farmworker protections.
(Wikipedia.org)
Article March 29, 2016

Farmworker Awareness Week: Cultivating Awareness and Celebrating Change

It’s National Farmworker Awareness Week, and people from all walks of life are taking action. They’re speaking up for their families and communities, advocating for stronger protections and redesigning agricultural practices to eliminate pesticides.

Selena and her father Miguel at the Rayburn House Building in 2013, after meeting with their representative's office.
(Matt Roth / Earthjustice)
Article January 6, 2014

Teen Lobbies for Farmworker Protections

18-year-old Selena Zelaya of Mount Dora, FL, was one of about a dozen farmworker advocates who traveled to D.C. to lobby for farmworker protections against harmful pesticides. Selena’s mother and father are farmworkers and from a young age she began advocating on behalf of them and others. Selena shares why she is so committed to the fight for farmworker protections.

Organophosphates are acutely toxic and associated with neurodevelopmental harms in children
(Austin Valley / CC BY 2.0)
Press Release September 20, 2023

Voices Across the U.S. Demand Ban on Brain-Harming Pesticide by Any Means Necessary

Advocates praise bill introduction in Congress and urge EPA for a full ban

Article July 15, 2013

Pesticides Taking Toll on Farmworkers

Farmworkers from across the nation come to D.C. to secure safeguards from toxic pesticides

Farmworkers harvest strawberries in Salinas, CA.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release August 19, 2014

More Than 200,000 People Call for Stronger Workplace Protections for Farmworkers

EPA proposal is a step in the right direction as farmworkers demand stronger rules now