On May 8, California governor Gavin Newsom’s administration announced plans to ban chlorpyrifos after an independent panel concluded that the pesticide is damaging to human health. The chemical belongs to a class of neurotoxins called organophosphates and was banned for indoor pest control in 2001. But 6 million pounds of it are applied annually to a wide range of crops, including oranges, alfalfa, almonds, and grapes. That it causes neurological damage in humans is hardly news. Studies over the past decade by Columbia University, the University of California at Davis, and UC Berkeley have all found that children whose mothers were exposed to the chemical while pregnant suffer negative effects such as increased rates of autism and attention deficit disorder as well as lower IQs. | 
