Using pesticides in agriculture has always meant maintaining a difficult balance: protecting crops and ensuring that key products get to market, while also guarding against the possibility that at least some of those products contain toxic chemicals. This month, things got more complicated—at least from an environmentalist's perspective.
November 18 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved use of the pesticide isocycloseram on golf courses, institutional and ornamental lawns, and on a variety of crops, including grains, dozens of types of peas and beans, tomatoes, oranges, almonds and more. The move comes just two weeks after agency approved another pesticide, cyclobutrifluram, has equally widespread use.
A particular problem with these pesticides is that they both contain toxic substances. PFASabbreviation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS are colloquially known as “chemistry forever” because that pretty much describes how long they linger in the environment. Although they do not remain in the body as persistently, according to 2020 study V Journal of the National Cancer InstitutePFAS are present in the blood serum of 98% of Americans tested. Chemicals are purified mainly in urinebut continued environmental exposure may gradually replace what has been removed.
PFAS were associated with EPA itself increases the risk of a variety of health effects, including decreased fertility, hypertension in pregnancy, increased risk of certain types of cancer (especially kidney cancer), developmental delays in children, hormonal imbalances, increased cholesterol, decreased immune system effectiveness, and more.
Read more: All things in your home that may contain PFAS “Forever Chemicals”
The approval of the two chemicals is part of a larger Trump administration effort to expand the use of PFAS-containing pesticides on industrial and private farms across the country. Under the Biden administration, the EPA only one such pesticide is approvedat the end of the then-president's single term, a chemical known as fluazaindolysine was approved for use in foods such as carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, oranges, peaches, almonds and grapes. The Trump administration has already doubled that approval rate in its first year in office and is looking to give it a thumbs up. a total of five PFAS pesticides until the end of the year. This could mean trouble.
“The problem with many of these chemicals is that they haven't been fully studied yet,” says Eric Olson, a pesticide expert and senior attorney. Natural Resources Defense Council. “We know that some of these forever chemicals are carcinogens. Some of them interfere with reproduction, some of them interfere with the immune system. They tend to be extremely toxic in very low doses—parts per quadrillion or parts per trillion. So the idea that we're spraying these chemicals on our food is a concern for us.”
Worse, there is no clear definition of what PFAS are—at least not in the United States. Based in Paris Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)which works with 38 member countries, including the United States, to promote international cooperation and economic growth, defines PFAS as industrial chemicals that have at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom, that is, a carbon atom with two or three fluorine atoms attached to it. There are about 15,000 types of chemicals that meet this standard. But the Environmental Protection Agency pushed backexpanding the definition to two fully fluorinated carbon atoms. “The final definition does not include substances that contain only one fluorinated carbon,” the agency wrote in its official report in 2023, during Joe Biden's presidency. This change is alarming.
“This is a huge reduction in the number of chemicals that are subject to regulation like PFAS,” says Nathan Donley, director of environmental health at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson. “We're talking about eliminating over 10,000 chemicals. The OECD definition was the definition agreed upon by scientists. Now the EPA has come up with a regulatory definition that, in my opinion, ignores the science and is more designed to [the chemical industries’] life is easier.”
Read more: Companies knew about the dangers of Forever Chemicals' PFAS and kept them secret
It's no surprise that the industry is getting even more PFAS benefits than during the Biden presidency, given that a small group of their own is now running the show on pesticides at the Environmental Protection Agency. How New York Time And other In June, President Trump reportedly appointed Kyle Kunklerformer high-ranking soybean industry lobbyist, as deputy assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for formulating the agency's pesticide policies. Kunkler is joined Nancy Beck And Lynn Deklevawho were both once directors American Chemistry Councilpowerful trading group. Within a month of Kunkler taking office, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to lift restrictions on a problematic herbicide that worked great against weeds in the fields where it was used just fine, but also had a nasty tendency to spread to neighboring farms, killing the crops rather than the weeds.
“The EPA's Pesticide Division is now run by chemical industry“,” Donley says. “They are in charge, and unfortunately their priorities are what's going on and it's putting people in danger.”
“What we are starting to see is a clear indication that they are very friendly to their former employers and have opened the door to allowing a lot of toxic chemicals to be imported. [to be used]” says Olson.
The Environmental Protection Agency declined to comment for this story and instead referred TIME to post on X from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin denying that certain fluorinated compounds are PFAS, contrary to scientific consensus.
Read more: The challenge of removing toxic PFAS chemicals from drinking water
For consumers who may be concerned about what's in their food, there are limited steps they can take to avoid PFAS in pesticides. Choose organic fruits and vegetables Sure, it can help, but it's not a panacea because PFAS leach into the soil, enter the water supply, and are easily absorbed by growing crops. The same is true if you decide plant your own backyard garden. One North Carolina State University Study found that PFAS are particularly high in water-rich fruits and vegetables such as watermelon and tomatoes. You can't see, smell or taste PFAS, so unless tested in a food lab, there's no way to determine what, if any, toxins you're consuming.
According to the Environmental Protection AgencyChildren are especially vulnerable because they drink more water, breathe more air, and eat more food per pound of body weight than adults. Breast milk can contain PFAS and be passed on to breastfed infants.
No matter who runs the EPA and no matter what its decisions, PFAS pesticides will remain a major concern for any administration. Last year, Donley and his colleagues at the Center for Biological Diversity published an article They tried to quantify the chemical load sprayed on US crops throughout the year and came up with a staggering figure of about 30 million pounds per year. Only in California according to the Environmental Working Groupthis figure is £2.5 million.
“It's just a huge amount of pollution that's not going to go away any time soon,” Donley says. “It is not you or I who will pay for this. It is our children and their children who will be burdened with pollution that will never go away, and that is the greatest sin.”
