TRUMP’S LEGACY: DAMAGED BRAINS
There is an image that shows what a common pesticide does to a child’s brain.
The pesticide, which belongs to a class of chemicals developed as a nerve gas made by Nazi Germany, is now found in food, air and drinking water. Human and animal studies show it damages the brain and reduces IQs while causing tremors among children. It has also been linked to lung cancer and Parkinson’s disease in adults.
The colored parts of the image, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this pesticide.
This chemical, chlorpyrifos, is hard to pronounce, so let’s just call it Dow Chemical Cos.’ Nerve Gas Pesticide. Even if you haven’t heard of it, it may be inside you: One 2012 study found that it was in the umbilical cord blood of 87 percent of newborn babies tested.
And now the Trump administration is embracing it, overturning a planned ban that had been in the works for many years.
The Environmental Protection Agency actually banned Dow’s Nerve Gas Pesticide for most indoor residential use 17 years ago — so it’s no longer found in the Raid you spray at cockroaches. The EPA was preparing to ban it for agricultural and outdoor use this spring, but then the Trump administration rejected the ban.
That was a triumph for Dow, but the decision stirred outrage among public health experts. They noted that Dow had donated $1 million for President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
So Dow’s Nerve Gas Pesticide will still be used on golf courses, road medians and crops that end up on our plate.
“This was a chemical developed to attack the nervous system,” notes Virginia Rauh, a Columbia professor who has conducted groundbreaking research on it. “It should not be a surprise that it’s not good for people.”
Here’s the big picture: The $800 billion chemical industry lavishes money on politicians and lobbies its way out of effective regulation. The American Academy of Pediatrics protested the administration’s decision on the nerve gas pesticide, but officials sided with industry over doctors. The swamp won.
The chemical industry lobby, the American Chemistry Council, is today’s version of Big Tobacco. These days, Trump is handing over the keys of our regulatory apparatus to the council and its industry allies. An excellent New York Times article by Eric Lipton noted that to oversee toxic chemicals, Trump appointed a council veteran along with toxicologist with a history of taking council money to defend carcinogens.
In effect, Trump appointed two foxes to be Special Assistant for Guarding the Henhouse.
Someday we will look back and wonder: What were we thinking?! I’ve written about the evidence that toxic chemicals are lowering men’s sperm counts, and new research suggests by extrapolation that by 2060, a majority of American and European men could even be infertile. These days we spew fewer toxins into our air and rivers, and instead we dump poisons directly into our own bodies.
A Dow spokeswoman, Rachelle Schikorra, told me “Dow stands by the safety of chlorpyrifos.” (I don’t think the company approves of my branding it Dow’s Nerve Gas Pesticide). Given Dow’s confidence, I suggest the company spray it daily in its executive dining rooms.
Look, it’s easy to get diverted by the daily White House fireworks. But long after the quotidian craziness is forgotten, Americans will be caring for victims of the chemical industry’s takeover of safety regulation.
Democrats sometimes gloat that Trump hasn’t managed to pass significant legislation so far, which is true. But he has been tragically effective at dismantling environmental and health regulations — so that Trump’s most enduring legacy may be cancer, infertility and diminished IQs for decades to come.
The New York Times