Oregon Department of Agriculture is considering new rules to limit the use of chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic pesticide which causes serious human health impacts even at low levels of exposure, including but not limited to lowering IQ and cognitive skills, damaging memory and learning, and increasing rates of autism and ADHD. These effects are strongest in utero and young children. Acute exposure can cause severe reactions, up to and including death. Farmworkers and their families are at highest risk, and ban has been a top priority of PCUN (Oregon's farmworker union) - but nearly everyone who eats gets an unsafe dose through residues on food and in water.

Chlorpyrifos is also very harmful to the environment, including to beneficial insects, migratory birds, salmon, and many other species. The EPA had recommended that chlorpyrifos be banned nationally - but then when Trump came in he rolled back that decision (after his inauguration fund got a major donation from Dow Chemical, which manufactures the chemical), and the case is working its way through the courts. Chlorpyrifos is already banned or being phased out in Hawaii, California, New York, and the EU.

You can learn more here. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/opinion/chlorpyrifos-pesticide.html, https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-lawmakers-chlorpyrifos-ban-proposal/ (the attempt to ban it in the legislature failed due to the Republican walkout).

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What you can do: submit testimony to the Oregon Dept of Agriculture in support of phasing out all forms of chlorpyrifos, and - in the meantime - expanding buffers around homes, schools, and other sensitive sites. You can find full info on how to submit testimony here: https://www.beyondtoxics.org/work/pesticide-reform/take-action-to-stop-chlorpyrifos/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=9fa660a8-8524-40ae-9d1b-377a759d846a