California is the largest user of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, and on Wednesday, the state's Environmental Protection Agency moved to ban it.
Exposure to the chemical has been linked to developmental disorders and neurological damage in people and animals, with children hit especially hard. Unless an opposing party calls for an administrative hearing, the ban will take effect in 15 days. Environmentalists have been calling on the federal EPA to ban the pesticide, and during the Obama administration, the agency produced scientific studies showing the harm chlorpyrifos can cause. Last month, the federal EPA announced it would not ban the pesticide, claiming there was not enough data to show that an unsafe amount of residue is left on treated foods.
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