Red Alert Needed For Brain-Damaging Pesticide In Food

A pesticide linked to brain damage in children should be urgently red-flagged due to its presence in food, says the Safe Food Campaign.

“A red alert is needed for chlorpyrifos, a brain-damaging pesticide still found in our food,” says Alison White, Co-convenor of the Safe Food Campaign. “Young children are particularly at risk from exposure through what they eat.”

Ms White will present oral evidence to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on Wednesday, 9 April. The EPA is proposing to ban the pesticide within a 6 or 12 month timeline.

“We fully support the EPA’s proposal to ban chlorpyrifos due to the unacceptable risks it poses to users and the environment,” she says. “However, the significant risk from food residues has not been addressed.”

Chlorpyrifos, already banned in 44 countries, is classified as a persistent organic pollutant under the United Nations Stockholm Convention. It persists in the environment, builds up in the body, travels long distances, and has serious health effects — especially for children — even at low levels.

Although the EPA placed chlorpyrifos on its reassessment list in 2020, no timeframe was set, in breach of legal requirements. In February 2023, the Safe Food Campaign presented a petition to Parliament urging an immediate ban.

“We were spurred into action after a 2022 study showed New Zealand children had higher levels of a chlorpyrifos metabolite in their bodies compared to children overseas,” says Ms White. “This indicates food residues are a major source of exposure.”

Residues of chlorpyrifos (and its close chemical relative, chlorpyrifos-methyl) have been found in a wide range of everyday foods in New Zealand — including baby food, raisins, peanut butter, wheat products, frozen mixed berries, grapes, tomatoes, avocados, pears, mandarins, broccoli, and other green vegetables.

“The scientific evidence is deeply concerning,” says Ms White. “Chlorpyrifos has been linked to damage to the prenatal brain, disrupted puberty, reduced sperm production, and overall neurotoxicity — even in minute quantities.”

A 2016 US EPA reassessment concluded that chlorpyrifos residues in food are unsafe for all populations. Children aged 1–2 face the highest risk, with exposure levels 140 times above the food safety limit.

“We are calling on the EPA to issue a red alert — just as they did with DCPA weedkillers last August — to ban uses of chlorpyrifos on food immediately,” says Ms White. “Babies in the womb are particularly vulnerable.”

NOTE: Full references to the studies mentioned can be found in the parliamentary chlorpyrifos petition PDF: https://www.safefood.org.nz/article/chlorpyrifos-petition-summary

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