EPA clamps down on 12 PFAS in pesticides

The US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to yank 12 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a list of approved inert ingredients in pesticides. None of the chemicals are currently used in any pesticides registered by the agency. The action is intended to prevent manufacturers from using the 12 chemicals in pesticides in the future unless they can support the use with safety data. Under the proposal, released Sept. 1, manufacturers that want to use any of the 12 chemicals in pesticides could be required to evaluate carcinogenicity, adverse reproductive and developmental effects, genotoxicity, and environmental impacts. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a watchdog group that raised the alarm in late 2020 about PFAS in pesticides, says the proposed action won’t do much to prevent PFAS from contaminating agricultural land. “This action was such low-hanging fruit that it was practically rotting on the ground,” PEER’s science policy director Kyla Bennett says in a statement. “EPA should prohibit all PFAS in any pesticide products—now.”