California Bans Pesticide Linked to Brain Damage in Children

A popular agricultural pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children will no longer be sold in California starting in February, state officials announced on Wednesday, as the AP reported.
Under the agreement, farmers will still be allowed to use the pesticide chlorpyrifos, but will have to stop at the end of 2020.
If the manufacturer of chlorpyrifos had decided to embark on a protracted legal battle rather than voluntarily withdraw their product, the timeline for removing the pesticide would have been much longer, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"For years, environmental justice advocates have fought to get the harmful pesticide chlorpyrifos out of our communities," said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement released by the California EPA. "Thanks to their tenacity and the work of countless others, this will now occur faster than originally envisioned. This is a big win for children, workers and public health in California."
The pesticide is widely used as farmers rely on it for some of the nation's most popular crops, including alfalfa, almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes and walnuts, according to the AP.
California environmental regulators have had a ban on chlorpyrifos in their sights for years. They had designated the pesticide "a toxic air contaminant" that is harmful when it enters the respiratory track or makes skin contact. That designation allowed yesterday's agreement to include a ban on aerial spraying of chlorpyrfios, as NPR reported.
The federal government also sought to stop the use of chlorpyrifos under the Obama administration. The Obama administration proposed banning the pesticide in 2015 when the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that chlorpyrifos could pose harm to consumers. However, in early 2017, the EPA, under the Trump administration, reversed course and said there was too much uncertainty about it, as NPR reported.
Since the federal government walked back its plan to ban the pesticide, California moved to implement its own regulation. Hawaii and New York are already phasing in their own bans, according to the AP.
"The swift end to the sale of chlorpyrifos protects vulnerable communities by taking a harmful pesticide off the market," said California Secretary for Environmental Protection Jared Blumenfeld in a statement. "This agreement avoids a protracted legal process while providing a clear timeline for California farmers as we look toward developing alternative pest management practices."
The state did agree to kick in $5.6 million to help pesticide manufacturers develop a safer alternative.
"But just so you're aware, that's what agriculture does every day, we're always looking for new products, safer products that are effective," said Casey Creamer, president of the California Citrus Association, which represents about 5,000 growers, as the AP reported.
Creamer added that the he and his organization believe the risks are far less than what the state presented.
"We really thought the exposure assessments and risks were just inflated and it wasn't a true characterization of the protections that were already in place," he said according to the AP.
Corteva AgriScience, formerly known as Dow AgroSciences, is the largest manufacturer of the chemical. After mounting restrictions on applications of chlorpyrifos products over the last few years, the state chose to revoke product registrations this year, which is effectively a ban. Companies that make the pesticide, led by Dow, had asked for a hearing, which delayed implementation of the ban, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Corteva said in a statement that it reached the agreement "in the best interests of the affected growers," as the AP reported.
"Through recent actions, the state of California has improvised and implemented several uniquely challenging regulatory requirements for chlorpyrifos. These new, novel requirements have made it virtually impossible for growers to use this important tool in their state," Corteva said in its statement.
As for the federal government, EPA chief Andrew Wheeler had extended the safety review of chlorpyrifos until 2022, but complaints about its process have forced the agency to expedite the review process and to have a decision by next October, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"...as long as the Trump administration is in charge, this EPA will favor the interests of the chemical lobby over children's safety." In my 2nd @EcoWatch post today, #Trump's #EPA decided not to ban toxic #pesticide #chlorpyrifos: https://t.co/91WkwqaT0I
— Olivia Rosane (@orosane) July 19, 2019
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Wisdom the mōlī, or Laysan albatross, is the oldest wild bird known to science at the age of at least 70. She is also, as of February 1, a new mother.
<div id="dadb2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa2ad8cb566c9b4b6d2df2693669f6f9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1357796504740761602" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨Cute baby alert! Wisdom's chick has hatched!!! 🐣😍 Wisdom, a mōlī (Laysan albatross) and world’s oldest known, ban… https://t.co/Nco050ztBA</div> — USFWS Pacific Region (@USFWS Pacific Region)<a href="https://twitter.com/USFWSPacific/statuses/1357796504740761602">1612558888.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
Ice buildup changes air flow around the turbine blade, which can slow it down. The top photos show ice forming after 10 minutes at different temperatures in the Wind Research Tunnel. The lower measurements show airflow separation as ice accumulates. Icing Research Tunnel of Iowa State University, CC BY-ND
How ice builds up on the tips of turbine blades. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>- 14 Countries Commit to Ocean Sustainability Initiative - EcoWatch ›
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