Today, legislators approved Senate bill S5343 and Assembly bill A2477B, which ban chlorpyrifos in New York. This is a major victory for children’s health and puts New York on track to become by 2021 the first state in the country to end the use of chlorpyrifos. Hawaiʻi enacted a ban in 2018, though it does not take full effect until the end of 2022.

Dozens of studies show that exposure to chlorpyrifos is associated with lower birth weight, reduced IQ, attention disorders, and delayed motor development in infants and children. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded in 2016 that all uses of chlorpyrifos are unsafe, but Trump’s EPA refuses to ban the pesticide despite the science. Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate that comes from the same chemical family as sarin nerve gas, is used on foods like apples, citrus, broccoli, corn, and more.

The following statement is from Tyler Smith, Earthjustice staff scientist:

“Today, the New York Legislature decided not to wait on Donald Trump to protect children from a brain-damaging pesticide. We thank Assemblyman Englebright and Senator Kaminsky for their essential leadership.”