A new EPA analysis shows just how threatening pesticides are to our endangered species. Malathion and chlorpyrifos, two widely-used pesticides, are likely to harm 97 percent of the 1,700 most endangered plants and animals in the country.
But it doesn’t end there -- last year the World Health Organization classified malathion as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. So why is it still being sprayed on our fruits and vegetables?
For too long, the EPA has allowed chemical companies to register pesticides without proving their safety. And while these new studies are a step forward, the EPA needs to go further and ban these pesticides to protect endangered species from extinction.
Sign the petition to urge the EPA to save endangered species by banning malathion and chlorpyrifos.
The Endangered Species Act is supposed to protect the country’s rarest, most vulnerable plants and animals from extinction. But while the EPA allows the use of these pesticides to run rampant, those protections are moot.
The EPA has allowed chemical companies to register more than 16,000 pesticides without properly considering their impacts. That means more profits for Monsanto & Friends and less protection for our most vulnerable species.
The good news is that the pressure we’re putting on regulators to clamp down on dangerous pesticides is working. Just last week, Maryland became the first U.S. state to ban bee-harming neonicotinoids. With the EPA’s new studies on the danger of malathion and chlorpyrifos, now is the time to push for an outright ban.
Sign the petition to call on the EPA to protect endangered species and ban malathion and chlorpyrifos.
More information
Two widely used pesticides likely to harm 97% of endangered species in US
The Guardian. 7 April 2016.
The Guardian. 7 April 2016.