Patent Application Triggers EPA Review of Dow Herbicide

The Environmental Protection Agency is taking another look at the risks of an herbicide after noticing a patent application filed by manufacturer Dow AgroSciences LLC claimed that two ingredients in the weed-killer work better when combined.

Claims Dow made in its patent application for Enlist Duo have led the EPA to ask a federal appellate court to vacate and remand the agency’s 2014 registration of the herbicide (Natural Res. Def. Council v. EPA, 9th Cir., 14-73353, motion filed 11/24/15).

In its application, Dow wrote that two active weed-killing ingredients in Enlist Duo—glyphosate and 2,4-D—“are more effective in combination ...