Problem Summary
Pesticides have long been known to have neurotoxic effects on individuals exposed to high quantities of the chemicals, and there have been increasing concerns about the potential delayed effects of chlorpyrifos exposure on the brains of children exposed to the organophosphate pesticide in utero.
Most birth defects that we know of are linked to genetic or environmental causes, including exposure of pregnant women to pesticides, and chlorpyrifos exposure has been linked to serious birth defects like developmental delays, reduced brain function, brain damage, lower IQs, ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.
Chlorpyrifos has been one of the most widely used pesticides in the United States for decades, despite the potential for the organophosphateto damage the nervous system of a developing fetus. If your child was born with brain damage or another serious birth defect, and you believe chlorpyrifos exposure to be the cause, your family may have grounds to file a birth defect lawsuit against Dow Chemical Co.
About Chlorpyrifos
Chlorpyrifos is the active ingredient in Dursban and Lorsban, broad-spectrum organophosphate insecticides widely used on a number of food and feed crops to control foliage and soil-borne insects.
Chlorpyrifos has both agricultural uses – commonly sprayed on corn, soybeans, fruit and nut trees, cranberries, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and other row crops – and non-agricultural uses – sprayed on everything from golf courses, turf and Christmas trees to utility poles and fence posts. Categorized as an organophosphate, chlorpyrifos kills insects by interfering with an enzyme that is essential to the function of the nervous system. Chlorpyrifos attacks the nervous system of insects in the same way that sarin gas kills humans, and despite claims that exposure to the pesticide is safe in small doses, chlorpyrifos has been linked to serious birth defects in babies born to mothers exposed to the pesticide during pregnancy, including brain damage, loss of intellect, lowered IQ and developmental delays.
Since chlorpyrifos, marketed by Dow Chemical Co., became the most widely used insect killer in the United States, there have been a number of measures to eliminate, phase out and modify certain uses of the pesticide. In 1996, more stringent safety standards were enacted to address certain health and environmental risks from exposure to the pesticide, especially among children. In 2000, most home uses of chlorpyrifos were discontinued, and in 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated the chlorpyrifos label to include improved safety measures to protect the environment and individuals applying the pesticide. In 2014, the EPA completed a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos use, factoring in exposures from inhaling the pesticide, direct contact with skin and exposures from food and water among all populations, including women of childbearing age.
“In 1995, the EPA fined Dow Chemical $732,000 for withholding information about more than 200 reports of poisonings related to chlorpyrifos, and five years later, the company eliminated the use of chlorpyrifos in household products. Then, in 2003, Dow was ordered to pay a $2 million penalty for illegally making false safety claims about its pesticide products in advertisements that aired between 1995 and 2003.”
Chlorpyrifos Side Effects
Chlorpyrifos has been used as a pesticide in the United States since 1965, and the current chlorpyrifos label requires workers handling and applying the pesticide to wear additional protective equipment and avoid entering treated fields for between 24 hours and five days. According to the EPA, chlorpyrifos can cause cholinesterase inhibition in humans, meaning the pesticide can overstimulate the nervous system and cause symptoms like dizziness, nausea, confusion, and at exceptionally high exposures, possibly even respiratory paralysis and death.
Although in-home use of chlorpyrifos has been restricted since 2000, the pesticide is still widely used in agriculture and poses a serious risk for individuals who work in or live in close proximity to fields sprayed with chlorpyrifos. Perhaps most concerning is the potential for women exposed to chlorpyrifos during pregnancy to give birth to babies with inhibited fetal brain development. According to reports, chlorpyrifos exposure in utero can result in the following birth defects:
- Reduced IQ
- Developmental delays
- ADHD
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Neurobehavioral development disorders
- Reduced brain function
- Cognitive problems
- Slower learning
- Delayed motor development
- Loss of working memory
- Impaired fetal brain development
- Impaired fetal nervous system development
- Impulsive behavior
In one study published in 2012, researchers wrote that “Prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos (CPF), an organophosphate insecticide, is associated with neurobehavioral deficits in humans and animal models.” According to the findings of that study, there were “significant associations of prenatal exposure to a widely used environmental neurotoxicant, at standard use levels, with structural changes in the developing human brain.”
In 2014, an article published in The Atlantic wrote, “Forty-one million IQ points. That’s what Dr. David Bellinger determined Americans have collectively forfeited as a result of exposure to lead, mercury, and organophosphate pesticides.” According to the article, which quoted a 2012 paper comparing intelligence quotients (IQs) among children whose mothers were exposed to these neurotoxins during pregnancy, exposure to organophosphates like chlorpyrifos account for a total loss of 16.9 million IQ points.
Chlorpyrifos Resources & Studies
- Research Highlighting Chlorpyrifos-Associated Birth Defects
- 2012 Study Calculating the Loss of IQ Points Due to Organophosphate Exposure
- 2016 Study Linking Past Parental Exposure to Pesticides and Congenital Malformations in Children in Brazil
- Agricultural Pesticide Use and Adverse Birth Outcomes in California
- Brain Anomalies in Children Exposed to Chlorpyrifos in Utero
- The Toxins that Threaten Our Brains
Chlorpyrifos Settlements & Litigation
Despite significant efforts in recent years to ban the potentially hazardous pesticide in the United States, chlorpyrifos is still allowed in agriculture, even though the pesticide is classified as “very highly toxic” to freshwater fish and birds, “moderately toxic” to mammals, and capable of causing “structural changes in the developing human brain.”
And while farmworkers and families living in close proximity to fields sprayed with chlorpyrifos are just now learning about the potential for the pesticide to cause birth defects in babies exposed to chlorpyrifos in utero, Dow Chemical has known for decades about the health risks of chlorpyrifos exposure. In 1995, the EPA fined Dow Chemical $732,000 for withholding information about more than 200 reports of poisonings related to chlorpyrifos, and five years later, the company eliminated the use of chlorpyrifos in household products. Then, in 2003, Dow was ordered to pay a $2 million penalty for illegally making false safety claims about its pesticide products in advertisements that aired between 1995 and 2003.
Still, chlorpyrifos continued to be heavily applied in agricultural and commercial uses in the United States for years, exposing adults, children and developing fetuses alike to adverse side effects. In 2018, a three-judge panel finally ordered the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos use in the United States within 60 days. However, the EPA appealed the decision and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is now reconsidering the ruling.
