Sign our parliamentary petition to get rid of the insecticide chlorpyrifos!
What is chlorpyrifos?
It is a controversial pesticide found in our food and persistent in the environment. It is a type of insecticide or organophosphate, long known to cause brain damage, especially in the unborn child, even at very low levels of exposure.
NZ study
What motivated us to do this petition now was an NZ study that came out in May 2022. This study for the first time ever looked at urine samples from 501 children in different areas of NZ. Pesticides were found in more than 80% of the samples, including various organophosphates, pyrethroids and 2,4-D. The most alarming finding was that the levels of chlorpyrifos (and chlorpyrifos-methyl, a chemical cousin) were 2.2 to 7.3 times higher than in other countries, such as the US, Spain and Thailand.
What is it in?
The last Total Diet Study (2016) found chlorpyrifos in frozen mixed berries, sultanas/raisins, bread or food with wheat, and peanut butter. Other government surveys with more sampling have found it in baby food, grapes, tomatoes, avocados, various green vegetables and other fruit, namely, apricots, peaches, pears, mandarins.
Worldwide action
There is much research about the bad effects of chlorpyrifos on our bodies and the environment, too much to quote here. Suffice to say that more than 39 countries have now banned it, including the EU, Canada, and even the US. It is classified as a Persistent Organic Pollutant under the Stockholm Convention, in other words, it is past time for NZ to get rid of it!