The U.S. EPA today is announcing a ban on the commonly used pesticide diazinon because of health threats to children. Marketed under such names as Spectracide and Real-Kill, diazinon is used in household ant and roach killers, as well as garden and lawn sprays. The EPA has reached a voluntary agreement with the pesticide’s chief manufacturer, Syngenta, to phase out the use of diazinon in both indoors and outdoors home products over four years; the agency will continue to allow its use on some commercial crops. Diazinon is one of the last widely used pesticides in the U.S. made from the class of chemicals known as organophosphates, which have been linked to neurological disorders and other health problems in children.
