After passing out of the Senate, a bill that would have potentially banned the pesticide Chlorpyrifos for use in most instances in Washington state, was stymied in the House. The House bill opts, instead, for a review by the Department of Agriculture to determine if rules need to be adopted to protect human health from Chlorpyrifos. 

Chlorpyrifos is most often used for corn production but can also be applied on other grains, fruit, vegetables, lawns, and ornamental plants. The pesticide controls for cutworms, corn rootworms, cockroaches, grubs, flea beetles, flies, termites, fire ants, and lice.

The EPA first approved Chlorpyrifos for use in 1965 and revised its use, banning it for household pests in 2000 to minimize exposure to infants and unborn children. Since the revised rules from the EPA, it has only been available to agricultural and commercial applicators. The EPA is currently in the midst of another review of Chlorpyrifos, with the results due in October 2022.

Before Washington legislators act, they should allow EPA scientists to complete that review, especially given the excellent record of Washington pesticide applicators.

Washington state pesticide applicators have an exemplary record of applying chemicals. In the 2019 Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Pesticide Management Division Annual Report to the Legislature it was reported nearly 37,000 pesticide licenses were issued throughout the state. From those 37,000 licenses there were 152 complaint investigations conducted during course of the year, only six of those investigations found “violations with impacts relating to human illness or symptoms.” The report also noted that, consistent with previous years, herbicides, rather than insecticides like Chlorpyrifos, were the major contributor to the investigations.

Licensed applicators are the best defense against improper exposure to pesticides like Chlorpyrifos. Application instructions are extremely detailed and vary between manufacturers and products. In cases like Chlorpyrifos, the safest application is one done by a person licensed through the WSDA. Our state recommends a 12-step PPE washing and removal process for any applicator before they leave a farm and, because Chlorpyrifos is a pre-harvest product, any potential residue will be gone well before produce enters the food chain.

Legislators in Washington state need to allow the EPA review process to come to fruition because applicators are cautious and careful. The 37,000 application license holders in this state have families and a vested interest in providing safe food for them. Six “violations with impacts relating to human illness or symptoms” out of 37,000 is 0.02% in 2018 from some form of chemical application. Comparatively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 6, or 16% of restaurant-goers a year will get sick from dining out.

Chlorpyrifos, thus far, has been deemed safe by the EPA. Until the EPA says otherwise, it should be allowed to remain a tool in the belts of farmers in our state. The more varied options farmers have, the more ability they have to be less reliant upon multiple-application products. Ultimately making our farmers even more effective at keeping that 0.02% track-record trending downward and continuing to provide produce to an ever-growing marketplace.