The ban on acephate comes a week after a ProPublica investigation highlighted the EPA’s controversial finding that the bug killer doesn’t harm the developing brains of children.

The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a proposal this week to ban a controversial pesticide that is widely used on celery, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.

The EPA released its plan on Tuesday, nearly a week after a ProPublica investigation revealed the agency had laid out a justification for increasing the amount of acephate allowed on food by removing limits meant to protect children’s developing brains.

But rather than banning the pesticide, as the European Union did more than 20 years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed easing restrictions on acephate.

The federal agency’s assessment lays out a plan that would allow 10 times more acephate on food than is acceptable under the current limits. The proposal was based in large part on the results of a new battery of tests that are performed on disembodied cells rather than whole lab animals. After exposing groups of cells to the pesticide, the agency found “little to no evidence” that acephate and a chemical created when it breaks down in the body harm the developing brain, according to an August 2023 EPA document.

  • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.caEnglish
    201·
    2 months ago

    PSA: You can soak your fruit and veggies in a baking soda solution to break down residual pesticides.

    I still want better regulation on pesticides, but that’s my stopgap.

    • stembolts@programming.dev
      141·
      2 months ago

      It’s so nice of the US to offload corporate responsibility to individual citizens. None of the money of course. But you all need to do your part to keep the quarterly earnings up!

      I’ll sacrifice mine and my family’s life to the line! All praise the line, line go up!

    • classic@fedia.io
      71·
      2 months ago

      Never heard of this. Not with an intention to call you out but rather curiosity, is this substantiated?

    • metaStatic@kbin.social
      11·
      2 months ago

      Big baking soda won’t fool me again.
      Baking soda is for baking, I’m not leaving an open box in my refrigerator or washing my fruit with it. if you want more profits just raise the price and shrink the weight like everyone else.