More than a hundred activists and farm workers traveled to Sacramento Wednesday to urge state regulators to ban a pesticide that President Trump has decided to allow farmers to continue to use.
The EPA reversed a ban President Obama had approved on chlorpyrifos.
Paul Towers with the Pesticide Action Network said California should step up and ban it.
“Chlorpyrifos can have a profound impact on a child’s developing brain," Towers said. "So this can lead to later impacts on cognition, it can lead to ADHD, autism, IQ loss.”
Oscar Ramos, a longtime teacher in Salinas, says he’s noticed a growing number of children with neurological disabilities.
“Those who are developing these learning disabilities, and lower IQ’s and autism, they’re coming from parents who work out in the fields,” Ramos said.
The California Farm Bureau did not respond to a request for comment.
The group praised Trump following his decision to allow farmers to continue to use chlorpyrifos, and said if farmers follow current safety guidelines, no one will be harmed.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.