Pressure is mounting on the Environmental Protection Agency to ban or further curb the use of chlorpyrifos, an insecticide widely used to protect crops such as soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, citrus and peanuts.

 

EPA is reviewing a court order requiring the agency to decide whether it will suggest a ban on the commonly used insecticide known as chlorpyrifos by Oct. 31.

 

Chlorpyrifos-used in commercial products for 40 years-already has limits set on its use by the EPA, but the agency has now recognized concerns about its presence in drinking water. For example, the chemical has been detected with increasing frequency in Minnesota's surface water, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

 

In an opinion issued Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, EPA was told to release a proposed or final rule banning the pesticide or to otherwise issue a “full and final” response to a petition filed by the Pesticide Action Network North America and the Natural Resources Defense Council nine years ago.

 

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