Lawsuits in California are
seeking potential class-action damages from Dow Chemical and its successor
company over a widely used bug killer linked to brain damage in children.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) —
Lawsuits filed Monday in California seek potential class-action damages from
Dow Chemical and its successor company over a widely used bug killer linked to
brain damage in children.
Chlorpyrifos is approved for use
on more than 80 crops, including oranges, berries, grapes, soybeans, almonds
and walnuts, though California banned sales of the pesticide last year and
spraying of it this year. Some other states, including New York, have moved to
ban it.
Stuart Calwell, lead attorney in
the lawsuits, argued that its effects linger in Central Valley agricultural
communities contaminated by chlorpyrifos during decades of use, with measurable
levels still found in his clients' homes.
Lawyers project that at least
100,000 homes in the nation’s largest agricultural state may need to dispose of
most of their belongings because they are contaminated with the pesticide.
“We have found it in the houses,
we have found it in carpet, in upholstered furniture, we found it in a teddy
bear, and we found it on the walls and surfaces,” Calwell said. “Then a little
child picks up a teddy bear and holds on to it.”
All that needs to be cleaned up,
he says, because “it’s not going away on its own.”
State records show 61 million
pounds of the pesticide were applied from 1974 through 2017 in four counties
where the lawsuits were filed, Calwell said.
Officials with Dow and its
affiliated Corteva Inc. did not immediately respond to telephone and email
requests seeking comment.
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