The Chlorpyrifos Era is Coming to an End, and the Search for New Alternatives is Imminent

Date: 2022-03-15

On August 30, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Regulation 2021-18091, which eliminates residue limits for chlorpyrifos.

Based on current available data and considering the uses of chlorpyrifos that has been registered. EPA cannot conclude that the overall exposure risk resulting from using chlorpyrifos meets the safety standards of the “Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act”. Therefore, EPA has removed all residue limits for chlorpyrifos.

This final rule is effective since October 29, 2021, and the tolerance for chlorpyrifos in all commodities will be expired on February 28, 2022. It means that chlorpyrifos  cannot be detected or used in all products in the United States as of February 28, 2022. Huisong Pharmaceuticals has responded positively to the EPA’s policy and continues to strictly regulate pesticide residue testing in our Quality Department to ensure that all products exported to the U.S. are free of chlorpyrifos.

Chlorpyrifos has been used for more than 40 years and is registered for use in nearly 100 countries on more than 50 crops. Although chlorpyrifos was introduced primarily to replace traditional highly toxic organophosphorus pesticides, there are more and more research indicate that chlorpyrifos still has a variety of potential long-term toxic effects, especially the widely publicized neurodevelopmental toxicity. Because of these toxicological factors, Chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl have been required to be banned by the European Union since 2020. Similarly, as chlorpyrifos exposure is likely to cause neurological damage to children’s brain (associated with neurodevelopmental toxicity), the California Environmental Protection Agency has also reached an agreement with the manufacturer to have a comprehensive prohibition on the sale and use of chlorpyrifos starting on February 6, 2020. Other countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand are also stepping up their efforts to re-evaluate chlorpyrifos, with notices to ban chlorpyrifos already issued in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar. It is believed that chlorpyrifos may be banned in more countries.

The importance of chlorpyrifos in crop protection is particularly evident in Europe and North America, where its prohibition of use has caused significant damage to agricultural production. Dozens of agricultural groups in the United States have indicated they would suffer irreparable harm if chlorpyrifos were banned on food crops. In May 2019, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation began phasing out the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. The economic impact of chlorpyrifos elimination on six major California crops (alfalfa, apricots, citrus, cotton, grapes, and walnuts) is enormous. Therefore, it has become an important task to find new efficient, low-toxicity and environmentally friendly alternatives to try to recover the economic losses caused by chlorpyrifos elimination.