Oranges

What’s on Your Citrus Fruit? Trump’s EPA Fights to Keep Controversial Insecticide in Use

Citrus growers hope to fend off fruit-munching katydids, but one weapon is under scrutiny. Researchers found that children growing up near fields where the insecticide chlorpyrifos was deployed exhibited autism-like symptoms. A court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the insecticide’s use, but Trump’s EPA is fighting back. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.

October 10, 2018 | Source: PBS News Hour | by Miles O'Brien

Citrus growers hope to fend off fruit-munching katydids, but one weapon is under scrutiny. Researchers found that children growing up near fields where the insecticide chlorpyrifos was deployed exhibited autism-like symptoms. A court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the insecticide’s use, but Trump’s EPA is fighting back. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.

Read the Full Transcript

  • Amna Nawaz:

    Finally, the risk of potent pesticides long used in agriculture.

    Miles O’Brien looks at why they’re considered a key weapon in a farmer’s arsenal, despite real health concerns.

    It’s our weekly look at the Leading Edge of science.

  • Miles O’Brien:

    It’s always harvest time in California’s Central Valley, the nation’s fruit basket, but little else is certain here.

    Just asked grower Bob Blakely.

  • Bob Blakely:

    I mean, if you had a million dollars, you would be better off going to Las Vegas and gambling it then you would be going out here and becoming a citrus grower.