This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a plan to ban the use of acephate, a widely-used pesticide on crops such as celery and tomatoes, following a ProPublica investigation. The investigation revealed that the EPA had considered increasing the allowable levels of acephate on food, ignoring previous limits set to safeguard children's brain development. The new proposal aims to prohibit acephate on all crops except non-fruit-bearing trees. Comments on this proposal close July 1, please take this opportunity to show support for a ban on this dangerous pesticide.
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Given the alarming findings surrounding acephate's impact on public health, particularly its potential harm to children's neurological development, and on the environment, it is imperative that the EPA take decisive action to ban this pesticide. Acephate's widespread use on food crops poses not only a significant environmental threat but also a direct risk to human health. By removing this harmful chemical from our agricultural practices, the EPA would safeguard environmental integrity but also protect the most vulnerable among us—our children—from irreversible damage. According to the EPA Fact Sheet on Acephate, this chemical is “highly toxic to honeybees and beneficial predatory insects…chronic risks to birds and mammals are also high…” This action is crucial in upholding the EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment. It's time for the EPA to prioritize long-term health and ecological well-being over short-term agricultural convenience by banning acephate.
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