Unwilling to be bound by international conventions, the U.S., is a non-voting member of the Stockholm Convention, approved by the United Nations.  This Body reviews chemicals and agrees on science-based restrictions on pesticide applications on food and for industrial use.

Chlorpyrifos has been shown to affect neural development and is especially dangerous for children.  The product is now banned in the U.S. for food application. Fruit and vegetables treated with chlorpyrifos cannot be legally imported into the U.S.  Given this legislative background, it is enigmatic why Karissa Kovner an advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency and a co-leader of the U.S. delegation to the Stockholm Convention effectively scuffled a proposal for an international ban on the compound.

The director of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics noted, “The EPA mission is to protect public health and the environment.  It seems so strange to me to see the U.S. EPA at these international meetings determined to derail the listing of chemicals.”

There is growing concern over persistent chemical compounds that do not degrade in the environment and are spread worldwide, frequently impacting communities north of the Arctic Circle