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Daily News Archive
From December 11, 2000

Massachusetts Attorney General Asks Retailers to Remove Chlorpyrifos from Shelves

On December 8, 2000, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office asked Massachusetts retailers to voluntarily remove products containing the highly toxic organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos, known to interfere with neurological development in children, from their shelves as soon as possible. This request asks retailers to remove the product from shelves a year earlier than required by the federal government.

Under an agreement with the manufacturer, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires retailers to remove Dursban, the most widely used household pesticide product in the US, from store shelves by December 31, 2001. By December 30, the pesticide may not be used on school grounds or day care centers. Environmentalists believe that another year of exposing consumers, especially children, to this dangerous pesticide is too long, and that EPA should have taken a stronger stance against the continued sale of the pesticide.

"The Attorney General's Office, in requesting retailers to stop the sale of chlorpyrifos, is to be commended," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. "Continued sale of chlorpyrifos during the lengthy phase-out period will risk continued harm to people, especially children, despite the availability of safer products and practices."