kid-future
Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network

Join us in a “week of action” against chlorpyrifos!

As summer comes to a close and kids head back to school in the next few weeks, we invite you to take action to protect their futures and help them achieve their full potential.

With our partners here in California, we are organizing a "week of action" pressuring state officials to better protect children's health by taking a stand against brain-harming pesticides. Please join us!

For years now, communities across the state, interested in protecting the health of children and rural communities, have been pressing the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to take action against the widely-used insecticide chlorpyrifos . DPR’s response has been slow, to say the least.

We hear the agency is now poised to finalize their long evaluation and take some kind of action. To support communities calling for a decision that will best protect children's health, PAN and other members of the Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR) coalition are hosting a “week of action" with plenty of opportunities to get involved.

Week of Action: What you can do!

Today: Sign the petition urging DPR to take swift action on brain-harming chlorpyrifos.

Monday: Twitter chat on pesticides and children's health with PAN's policy director and author of A Generation in Jeopardy, Kristin Schafer. Join the conversation at noon pacific time, and use #talkpesticides to follow along.

Tuesday: California teachers in Monterey County will hold a press conference to share their concerns about pesticides like chlorpyrifos that are used in close proximity schools. Read their full letter to DPR here.

Wednesday: You can find us in Sacramento delivering your petitions to DPR officials. Follow our Twitter account for updates on petition delivery.

Thursday: We dive deeper into why chlorpyrifos is particularly worrisome for children, and what you can do to help push state and federal officials to act via a webinar with NRDC scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, MPH, El Quinto Sol De America community activist Isabel Arrollo and CPR's co-director, Sarah Aird. Register here, space is limited.

Friday: We put our Twitter voices into full swing with Twitterstorm. Stay tuned.

For up to date information on these events check out our Facebook page and Twitter account. And check out related resources and information from other CPR members, including El Quinto Sol De America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Environmental Health, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

The science is clear

Chlorpyrifos is a known neurotoxic insecticide, especially harmful for children as it can cause IQ drops in children, is linked to autism and impaired cognition. A recent report from California’s Department of Public Health showed that it was one of the top 10 most frequently detected pesticides applied within a quarter mile of schools in California.

Study after study keeps strengthening the scientific case against chlorpyrifos. While children across the state are vulnerable to the harms of this pesticide through residues on their food, rural communities — and especially farmworkers and their families — face an even higher burden of exposure as chlorpyrifos drifts from fields into homes and schools.

Please join with us as we urge California officials to take a lead in protecting children's health by taking a stand against this brain-harming chemical that is undermining our children's future.

Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network is dedicated to advancing alternatives to pesticides worldwide. Follow @pesticideaction

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