EPA Urged to Block Pesticide Over ‘Forever Chemical’ Concerns

Environmental and health advocacy groups are warning the Environmental Protection Agency against giving farmers emergency use of an unregistered pesticide over concerns about the chemical’s potential impact to human health and the environment.

The pushback comes in response to a February request from agriculture officials in Arkansas and Missouri that the EPA allow rice growers access to tetflupyrolimet, which combats the weed known as barnyard grass, to “avert significant economic losses.”

The agency will consider whether to approve its short-term use and exempt the chemical from extensive safety assessments required under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. ...