Federal authorities have banned a widely used herbicide linked to developmental problems in fetuses.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday issued an emergency order suspending all uses of the herbicide dimethyltetrachloroterephthalate, better known as DCPA or Dacthal.
The herbicide, which is typically used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions, has been linked to several health effects in fetuses, including low birth weight, decreased IQ and impaired motor skills, the agency said.
However, it is not generally available for purchase at regular retailers and is used more in industrial settings.
Dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, better known as DCPA or Dacthal, is commonly used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and onions.
More than 90 percent of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and grapes had at least two pesticides, the EWG found in a recent report.
And the EPA estimates that pregnant women who handled produce with traces of DCPA may have been exposed to four to 20 times more of the pesticide than the agency considers safe for fetuses.
The ban comes weeks after a shocking study claimed pesticide use was as dangerous as smoking and linked to up to 150 percent more cancers in areas like the Midwest.
Michal Freedhoff, deputy administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety, said: “DCPA is so dangerous that it must be removed from the market immediately.”
‘In this case, pregnant women who may never know they were exposed could give birth to babies who experience irreversible health problems throughout their lives.’
The agency said its ban comes after several years of “unprecedented efforts” to get DCPA’s manufacturer, California-based AMVAC Chemical Corporation, to provide data on the pesticide’s health risks.
However, if the manufacturer challenges the ban, it could still be years before DCPA products are completely removed from shelves.
Mily Treviño Sauceda, executive director of the National Alliance of Peasant Women, also known as the National Alliance of Peasant Women, called the decision “historic.”
“We know intimately the harm that pesticides, including dimethyltetrachloroterephthalate, can cause to our bodies and communities,” he said.
‘This emergency decision is a great first step that we hope will be part of a series of others that are based on listening to farmworkers, protecting our reproductive health and safeguarding our families.’
However, other groups criticized the EPA for not acting sooner. Alexis Temkin, a senior toxicologist with the watchdog group Environmental Working Group, told AFP that The New York Times“EPA’s decision to finally suspend the DCPA is welcome news, but it was long overdue.”
‘For years, EWG and other public health advocates have warned about the serious risks the herbicide poses to farmworkers, pregnant people and other vulnerable populations.’
For example, a 2019 study from the University of California, Berkeley, found that more than half of adolescent females from farmworker communities in California’s Salinas Valley area had been exposed to DCPA.
The European Union banned the use of DCPA on crops in 2009.