WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it would not ban a widely used pesticide associated with developmental disabilities and other health problems in children.
The decision not to prohibit the use of the pesticide, chlorpyrifos, comes after years of legal wrangling. It represents a victory for the chemical industry and farmers who have lobbied to continue using the substance, arguing it is necessary to protect crops.
In making its ruling, the EPA rejected claims that the amount of pesticide residue allowed to remain in or on treated foods was unsafe, and said that the science was unsettled.
“EPA has determined that their objections must be denied because the data available are not sufficiently valid, complete or reliable to meet petitioners’ burden to present evidence demonstrating that the tolerances are not safe,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency added that it would continue to review the safety of chlorpyrifos through 2022.
The product, sold under the commercial name Lorsban, has already been banned for household use but remains in widespread use by farmers for more than 50 fruit, nut, cereal and vegetable crops.
President Barack Obama’s administration decided to ban chlorpyrifos in 2015 after scientific studies produced by the EPA showed the pesticide had the potential to damage brain development in children. But in 2017 Scott Pruitt, then the administrator of the EPA, reversed that prohibition, setting off a new round of legal challenges.