Brain Damage-Linked Pesticide Ban Sits On Cuomo's Desk Unsigned

NEW YORK CITY — The fate of a ban on an infant brain-damaging pesticide hangs in the balance as Gov. Andrew Cuomo stalls on signing legislation that would prohibit its use in the state, advocates said.

Cuomo has until Dec. 18 to sign law prohibiting chlorpyrifos — passed by the state Legislature in April after the Trump administration abandoned efforts for a nationwide ban — and has not confirmed that he'll do it, said a coalition of state and national advocates.

"Every day we go without a ban, children are eating, drinking, and breathing a pesticide linked to intellectual and learning disabilities, attention issues, and autism," said Jeffrey Baker of the Learning Disabilities Association of New York State.

"A chlorpyrifos ban is long overdue given the overwhelming evidence that this pesticide harms brain development in children."

Cuomo's office did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment on state Senate Bill S5343, which was passed by bipartisan majorities in the state Senate on April 30 and delivered to his office on Dec. 6, state records show.

The advocates — who include Human Rights Watch, Child Labor Coalition and Environmental Advocates of New York — say the compound originally developed for nerve gas during World War II is making its way into children's diets.

Toddlers eat 140 times the chlorpyrifos the Environmental Protection Agency deems safe through food residue, according to the federal agency's 2016 risk assessment report.

A Columbia University conducted in New York City found even low exposure levels during pregnancy could lead to longterm, potentially irreversible changes in the child's brain structure.

Children are more susceptible to the toxic effects because they eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more juice in proportion to their weight, said Baker, board president of New York's Learning Disabilities Association.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is part of a coalition that filed a brief against the Trump administration Friday to ban the pesticide. The Trump administration killed the federal ban — proposed by EPA under the Obama administration — in March 2017.

“Chlorpyrifos is an extremely dangerous pesticide," said James. "Yet the Trump Administration continues to ignore science, law, and common sense by allowing chlorpyrifos to contaminate our food at unsafe levels."

Cuomo has until next Wednesday to either sign, veto or ignore the ban, which would allow it to become New York State law automatically.

But Tyler Smith, a scientist with Earthjustice, argues by not signing the bill, Cuomo would undermine an effort to nationalize prohibiting chlorpyrifos led by New York's own Attorney General.

"He's undermining his own state in federal court," said Smith.

Smith suggested New Yorkers concerned about chlorpyrifos opt for organic fruits and vegetables, which have lower rates of pesticides, but noted this option isn't always available in low income communities and food deserts where grocery stores are scarce.

"The way to avoid it is to pass the ban," said Smith. "The bill's on the governor's desk so he has to sign."

Update: Gov. Cuomo directed the state Department of Environmental Conservation Tuesday, after the publication of this story, to ban all uses, except spraying apple tree trunks, by December 2020 and a full ban by July 2021.