Well, the EPA says it’s ok? PFAS in pesticides
This month, the EPA approved two new pesticides, isocycloseram and cyclobutrifluram, for use on golf courses, ornamental landscapes, and a wide variety of food crops. Both chemicals contain PFAS (“forever chemicals”), adding to a deeply troubling trend of expanding PFAS pesticide use despite overwhelming scientific evidence of their danger.
Just two weeks before these approvals, the agency under the Trump administration signaled its intent to fast track up to five PFAS pesticides this year alone.
PFAS contamination through pesticides is a growing crisis. As we’ve written previously, PFAS are so hazardous that the CDC recommended physicians consider testing their patients’ blood levels, an unprecedented step never taken for any other class of toxic chemicals. EPA’s own drinking water standards are so strict (4 parts per trillion) they effectively acknowledge there is no safe level of PFAS exposure. Nearly 100% of Americans, including newborns, already carry these chemicals in their blood.
Scientists worldwide warn PFAS may be the greatest chemical threat the human race is facing in the 21st century” and pesticide contamination is one of the fastest pathways of exposure.
A former EPA scientist said, “If the intent was to spread PFAS contamination across the globe, there would be few more effective methods than lacing pesticides with PFAS.”
The new approvals are especially alarming because the EPA has recently narrowed its own definition of what counts as a PFAS, excluding thousands of chemicals recognized as PFAS by international scientific bodies.
For Utah, where pesticide use is largely unregulated and decisions about mass spraying are made by individuals with no health expertise, this problem is even more acute. PFAS pesticides threaten drinking water, soil, food, wildlife, and the health of residents, especially pregnant women, infants, and children, who are most vulnerable.
UPHE urges anyone IN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY to sign on to our letter discouraging the state from using PFAS pesticides here.
Other residents are encouraged to download our letter and send it to their elected officials ↓