WASHINGTON— Two new “forever chemical” pesticides are among multiple dangerous pesticides approved today by the Trump Environmental Protection Agency for use on food crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, kiwi, oats, peas, broccoli and coffee.
The controversial approvals come just days after the Supreme Court sided with Bayer and the Trump administration in limiting Americans’ ability to sue pesticide companies for harms linked to pesticides.
Today’s approvals include two new PFAS pesticides never before used in the United States. Diflufenican and epyrifenacil can now both be used on corn and soybeans, the two most widely grown U.S. crops. Epyrifenacil has also been approved on wheat. A previously EPA-approved “forever chemical” pesticide called bifenthrin also got approval for use on additional foods, including coffee, kiwifruit, peas, kale and broccoli.
The EPA has also approved the first food use of chlormequat, which is already found in the bodies of 90% of Americans and is linked to multiple reproductive harms, on wheat, barley and oats.
