The Trump administration맥스카지노�s top environmental official met privately with the chief executive of Dow Chemical shortly before reversing his agency맥스카지노�s push to ban a widely used pesticide after health studies showed it can harm children맥스카지노�s brains, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt맥스카지노�s schedule shows he met with Dow CEO Andrew Liveris for about a half hour on March 9 during a conference held at a Houston hotel. Twenty days later Pruitt announced his decision to deny a petition to ban Dow맥스카지노�s chlorpyrifos pesticide from being sprayed on food, despite a review by his agency맥스카지노�s scientists that concluded ingesting even minuscule amounts of the chemical can interfere with the brain development of fetuses and infants.EPA released a copy of Pruitt맥스카지노�s March meeting schedule earlier this month following several Freedom of Information Act requests.Asked by the AP in April whether Pruitt had meet with Dow executives or lobbyists before his decision, EPA spokesman J.P. Freire replied: 맥스카지노�We have had no meetings with Dow on this topic.맥스카지노�EPA did not respond this week to questions about what Pruitt and Liveris did discuss during their March 9 meeting, or whether the two had also met on other occasions.Liveris has close ties to the Trump administration. He heads a White House manufacturing working group, and Dow wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite the president맥스카지노�s inaugural festivities.The American Academy of Pediatrics has urged Pruitt to take chlorpyrifos off the market. The group representing more than 66,000 pediatricians and pediatric surgeons said Tuesday it is 맥스카지노�deeply alarmed맥스카지노� by Pruitt맥스카지노�s decision to allow the pesticide맥스카지노�s continued use.맥스카지노�There is a wealth of science demonstrating the detrimental effects of chlorpyrifos exposure to developing fetuses, infants, children, and pregnant women,맥스카지노� the academy said in a letter to Pruitt. 맥스카지노�The risk to infant and children맥스카지노�s health and development is unambiguous.맥스카지노�The AP reported in April that Dow is lobbying the Trump administration to 맥스카지노�set aside맥스카지노� the findings of federal scientists that organophosphate pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, are also harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species.U.S. farmers spray more than 6 million pounds of chlorpyrifos each year on citrus fruits, apples, cherries and other crops, making it one of the most widely used pesticides in the world.First developed as a chemical weapon prior to World War II, Dow has been selling chlorpyrifos as a pesticide since the mid-1960s. It has been blamed for sickening dozens of farmworkers in recent years. Traces have been found in waterways, threatening fish, and experts say overuse could make targeted insects immune to the pesticide.Under pressure from federal regulators over safety concerns, Dow withdrew chlorpyrifos for use as a home insecticide in 2000. EPA also placed 맥스카지노�no-spray맥스카지노� buffer zones around sensitive sites, such as schools, in 2012.But environmental and public health groups said those proposals don맥스카지노�t go far enough and filed a federal lawsuit seeking a national ban on the pesticide.In October 2015, the Obama administration proposed revoking the pesticide맥스카지노�s use in response to a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America. A risk assessment memo issued in November by nine EPA scientists concluded: 맥스카지노�There is a breadth of information available on the potential adverse neurodevelopmental effects in infants and children as a result of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos.맥스카지노�