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EPA bans popular household chemical
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6-12-2000 New York. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that a popular household pesticide will be banned from domestic use after scientific studies showed that high-level exposure can carry health risks, including blurred vision and memory loss. The chemical, chlorpyrifos, is used in household cleaners including Dursban, the most widely used household pesticide in the United States. "Chlorpyrifos is part of a class of older, riskier pesticides [that] can cause neurological effects," said EPA administrator Carol M. Browner. "Now that we have completed the most extensive scientific evaluation ever conducted on the potential health hazards from a pesticide, it is clear the time has come to take action to protect our children from exposure to this chemical." Of the more than 20 million pounds of chlorpyrifos used annually, about half is used around homes, gardens and lawns, and half on crops, including fruits, nuts, vegetables and grains. The manufacturing of chlorpyrifos for nearly all residential uses and all uses where children could be exposed, such as in schools, day care centers, parks and recreation areas, hospitals and public buildings, will halt by December. Chlorpyrifos used for termite control will be phased out by December 2001 in all buildings used by children. By the beginning of the next growing season, the EPA will cancel or significantly lower allowable residues of chlorpyrifos in foods regularly eaten by children, such as tomatoes, apples and grapes.
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