In the choice between big chemical corporations and ordinary citizens, the Environmental Protection Agency has made clear where its allegiances lie

How much is your child’s health worth? The answer coming from the leadership of the US Environmental Protection Agency is: not that much.

The EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, this week confirmed what many Americans already know: when the Trump administration weighs the competing interests of corporate profits versus public health, the corporations win, hands down.

Wheeler announced Thursday that despite what independent scientists say is a wealth of evidence tying the popular insecticide known as chlorpyrifos to neurodevelopmental damage in children, the pesticide should continue to be applied by farmers to foods that children regularly consume, including apples, grapes, broccoli and cherries. That decision comes even though residues of the chemical in food and water are among the exposures known by scientists to contribute to a range of cognitive problems in kids, such as a reduced IQ. Studies have shown that even pregnant women’s exposure can have an impact on their children.