Hawaii has passed a law to better govern the use of pesticides in the U.S. state.
The legislation imposes a state wide ban on the use of the neurotoxin chlorpyrifos to take effect in January next year and also governs the use of restricted pesticides in communities and near schools.
A spokesperson for the Hawaii Center for Food Safety, Autumn Ness, told Sara Vui-Talitu the law's realisation has taken close to five years.
She says chlorpyrifos has properties similar to nerve agents used during World War 1.