EPA issues emergency order against pesticides that can harm fetuses

EPA pesticides overview: 

• Who: The Environmental Protection Agency has issued an emergency order for pesticide products containing dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA).
• Why: The chemicals can harm the fetuses of pregnant women, the order says.
• Where: The emergency order applies within the United States.

The United States’ environment watchdog has issued an emergency order suspending the registration of all pesticide products containing certain chemicals, as the chemicals can harm the fetuses of pregnant women, the order says.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted the emergency order to the federal register Aug. 7. 

It applies to all pesticide products containing the active ingredient dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), also marketed under the trade name Dacthal. 

The EPA says it issued the emergency order because it determined that “continued sale, distribution, or use of DCPA products during the time required to cancel such products would pose an imminent hazard.”

DCPA can harm fetuses, EPA says

The decision was made due to the risk of thyroid hormone perturbations in the fetuses of female bystanders and workers who apply DCPA or who enter treated fields after application, the EPA says.

DCPA is registered for agricultural uses, including on root vegetables, fruiting vegetables, strawberry, sod and nursery ornamental production, the notice states. Non-agricultural uses of DCPA include non-residential grass and turf including golf courses and athletic fields.

“EPA has concerns that pregnant individuals may be currently exposed to DCPA at levels higher than those that cause fetal thyroid hormone disruption, but at which no thyroid effects would occur in the pregnant individual,” the federal agency says. 

The effects of such hormone perturbations in the fetus could include low birth weight and irreversible and life-long impacts to children exposed in-utero, such as impaired brain development and motor skills, according to the EPA. They might not always be obvious in affected children at the time of birth, but could arise later, the notice says. 

“The health problems associated with thyroid hormone perturbations have long-lasting consequences for children exposed before birth that—when later identified—would not likely be recognized as resulting from prior pesticide exposure,” the EPA says.

No practical way to mitigate harm, agency says

While the sole registrant of DCPA products, AMVAC Chemical Corporation (AMVAC), has attempted to address these concerns, EPA said it found that there is no combination of
“practicable mitigations” under which DCPA use can continue without presenting an imminent hazard. 

The affected products include Dacthal Flowable Herbicide, Dacthal W-75 Herbicide and Technical Chlorthal Dimethyl.

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first-ever regulations for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. 

Public water systems will have five years to implement solutions to reduce the presence of the forever chemicals in drinking water exceeding acceptable levels. 

What do you think of this emergency order? Let us know in the comments. 

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