The Environmental Protection Agency and multinational agrochemical firms such as Monsanto often assure us that the synthetic chemicals cocktails we use to produce food are safe for human consumption. Yet these synthetic crop care solutions have never before been tested for such widespread use. Typically, chemical effects are tested for single chemicals, not together. This has led to many lawsuits around the United States, particularly in California, as farm workers are beginning to suffer the consequences of prolonged exposure to these dangerous synthetic chemicals.

One of the most recent lawsuits includes 47 farm workers from California who were exposed to Vulcan, an agrochemical product containing chlorpyrifos. Exposure to this synthetic pesticide caused the farm workers to experience persistent nausea and vomiting. What’s worse, these farmers had never used Vulcan on their fields. The synthetic pesticide spread from other farms in the surrounding areas.

Why are these chemicals, that can cause vomiting and convulsions, still allowed for use in food production? Neem serves as a natural biopesticide and fertilizer that is also safe for the environment.

Eat like your life depends on it, because it does!

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Chlorpyrifos is available for widespread and public use on food crops in the United States and around the world, despite causing brain and nervous system damage. Severe exposure has even been linked to lowered intelligence levels and ADHD in children, which comes as no surprises when you consider that it shares a similar chemical structure to nerve gas. Specialists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have frequently attempted to ramp up regulations of this synthetic pesticide, only to have any developments reversed at the last minute.

A first-of-its-kind bill, the ‘Protect Children, Farmers & Farmworkers from Nerve Agent Pesticides Act’ will amend the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act to include a ban on chlorpyrifos use in food. This bill will direct the EPA to work with the National Research Council to assess the effects of similar organophosphate pesticides on agricultural workers and children as well as develop more comprehensive educational programs on pesticides and their history.

While many, in particular the companies producing these synthetic chemicals, claim that they are safe for use on food crops, studies have shown their toxicity to humans, in particular for expectant mothers and young children. It is shocking that we continue to apply unprecedented amounts of these agrochemicals on our arable land when there are safe alternatives, including neem-based products. Neem, as a natural solution, is not only effective but also completely safe for the environment!

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Even though this synthetic pesticide is now applied on crops throughout the world, Dow Chemical originally developed chlorpyrifos as a chemical weapon in World War II. Now, over 5 million pounds are sold to commercial farmers every year in the United States alone.

This has led to unprecedented distribution and application of this dangerous chemical. In 2012, research from the University of California at Berkeley showed that 87% of umbilical-cord blood samples studied had traces of chlorpyrifos. Since this synthetic chemical has been shown to negatively impair brain development in fetuses, we are actively applying a dangerous chemical to our food and the environment that not only damages our health, but also the health of future generations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), despite many industry specialists advocating for the complete ban of chlorpyrifos, decided to allow the chemical’s use in commercial agriculture. When brought before the US Senate last month, the director of the EPA offered no supporting data to defend his decision, claiming instead he had relied on “interagency dialogue.” The next review of chlorpyrifos will not take place until 2022.

With the reversal of the decision to ban chlorpyrifos, this synthetic chemical will continue to permeate our environment and our bodies unless we make a change! That change needs to be a shift in thinking and practices to organic, sustainable agricultural methods, instead of the dangerous reliance on synthetic agrochemicals seen in conventional agriculture today. By using sustainable methods, like neem-based pesticides and fertilizers, we can feed the world with nutritious, organic food that has no adverse side effects.

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Environmental Health Perspectives has published multiple studies on the effect of an organic diet on children living in low-income urban and agricultural communities. What these studies prove is remarkable! In one, children first ate conventionally grown food for four days, organic food for seven days, and then conventional food for five days. Urine samples were collected each day, and researchers found that after eating a purely organic diet, levels of organophosphates and 2,4-D declined.

In other studies published in this journal, but across non-agricultural communities, have shown the same results. Organophosphate pesticide levels in children declined after only several days of eating organic food. This implies that the traces of chemical pesticides in the body are caused by the consumption of conventionally produced agricultural products.

Why does the level of these toxins in your body matter? Pesticide exposure can cause many damaging and life-threatening health problems, reproductive issues, and birth defects. However, in order to successfully decrease use of synthetic pesticides, a viable alternative in crop care must be available. That natural alternative is neem-based biopesticides and fertilizers. Cost-effective and able to protect plants against over 600 pests, neem is the sustainable, safe solution that agriculture needs.

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In November, the EPA released a report that concluded that, as it is currently used, chlorpyrifos contaminates water and is a dietary risk due to its above normal safety standard residues on food crops. Additionally, the pesticide poses a risk to farm workers that come into direct contact with it every day. However, according to scientists, this synthetic chemical is correlated with lower IQ, attention deficit disorders, and developmental delays, like the loss of working memory, delayed motor development and decreased cognitive functioning. It has even been linked to autism, increasing in risk when mothers are exposed during pregnancy.

How can we avoid this scary chemical that is poisoning our children? Very difficult – it is currently being used on the majority of crops: corn, strawberries wheat, citrus, apples, and many others! Even though the chemical was banned for residential use in 2000, it has continued to prevail as a major insecticide used on golf courses, turf, and in greenhouses.

Since chlorpyrifos was on track to being banned – the EPA reversed the move just before the federal court deadline to make the final decision – the agency cannot revisit the health risks of this health-damaging synthetic chemical until 2022. Dow Chemical has claimed that there is not enough science corroborating the claims made by the EPA, however other scientists have compared chlorpyrifos with the health risks associated with lead.

Instead of continuing to use a proven health-damaging chemical to produce our fruits and vegetables, there are a multitude of other, safer and natural alternatives. One solutions is to use sustainable, neem-based biopesticides and fertilizers. Neem is cost-effective and is non-toxic to pollinators, animals, humans, and the environment, meaning you and your loved ones can stay safe, while enjoying healthy, sustainably produced food! Demand change, demand safety for you, your loved ones, and farmers!

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