Dive Brief:
- More than 50 U.S. lawmakers are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of a weedkiller linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health risks to humans.
- In an Oct. 31 letter to the agency, seven U.S. senators said that paraquat, a chemical commonly used on farms across the country to protect row crops, fruits and vegetables, is a “highly toxic pesticide whose continued use cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities.”
- The call for a nationwide ban came after 47 U.S. Representatives sent a similar letter to the EPA earlier in October. According to findings from a recent study, paraquat could more than double a person’s odds of developing Parkinson’s if sprayed more than 500 meters from where people live and work.
Dive Insight:
Paraquat is a highly toxic chemical that has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, thyroid cancer, and other health issues including kidney, liver, and respiratory damage. Although less widely used than its more popular alternative glyphosate — the main ingredient in Bayer's Roundup — the herbicide has grown in use among farmers in recent years.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey data, farmers applied more than 15 million pounds of Paraquat to their acreage in 2018. That is more than triple the amount used in 1992.
“We urge you to protect the health of farmworkers and rural residents by banning paraquat,” the senators said in their letter to the EPA. The chemical is banned in more than 70 countries, including China, Brazil and members of the European Union.
Paraquat is often used to clear fields before planting, but the chemical can stay in the soil for years before breaking down, according to a study cited in an Oct. 8 letter signed by a group of U.S. Representatives. It is also susceptible to spray drift and has been shown to disproportionately affect farm workers in largely Latino counties in California.
The chemical is considered a “restricted use” pesticide that can only be used by licensed operators, such as trained certified applicators or technicians, because the chemical is “highly toxic to humans,” according to the EPA.
Syngenta, which manufactures paraquat, rejects claims of a link between its chemical and Parkinson’s disease, citing a lack of scientific evidence to prove otherwise. The company also said the herbicide is safe to use when used as directed.
Paraquat remains one of the most widely used pesticides in the United States and is used on row crops like corn, cotton and soybeans in addition to specialty crops such as peanuts and grapes. Glyphosate, however, dwarfs paraquat in terms of agricultural use. More than 250 million pounds of glyphosate have been applied on U.S. farmland each year since 2010, according to USGS data.
U.S. representatives expressed concerns that the pesticide could harm consumers in addition to farmworkers. Paraquat residue has been increasingly found in soil, which can enter the food chain and "cause harmful chemical buildup in humans and animals."
“Currently, the EPA has banned the use of Paraquat for certain areas like golf courses and recreational parks," the 47 representatives wrote in their letter. “We should expand this ban to protect those who are at high risk because of the use of this dangerous herbicide.”
