SALEM, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently approved two new pesticide ingredients that have sparked debate over whether they contain forever chemicals.
The federal agency registered the active ingredient cyclobutrifluram on Nov. 5 for nematicide/fungicide use on turf, ornamentals and romaine lettuce, as well as cotton and soybean seed. Cyclobutrifluram can be used in rotation with other nematicides to reduce resistance in crops and turf, according to the EPA.
The agency also approved 10 new products on Nov. 20 containing the active ingredient isocycloseram, a broad-spectrum contact insecticide that can be used on agricultural crops, turf and ornamentals, as well as indoor and outdoor uses for commercial, industrial and domestic sites.
“This new active ingredient will give farmers an additional tool to help manage crops and grow more food for our country,” the EPA said in a press release.
According to the EPA, isocycloseram pesticides will target pests that have caused significant damage to crops and financial losses to farmers over the years, including the tarnished plant bug in cotton, Colorado potato beetle and the diamondback moth for Brassica vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc. Isocylcloseram also has benefits for managing indoor pests, like cockroaches, termites and bed bugs, the EPA said.
Both cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram were previously reviewed by the agency through various studies evaluating the impacts on animals, plants and humans; these studies identified no human health risks when the pesticides are used according to their labels.
Raising the alarm
However, environmental activists and organizations, as well as several media outlets, raised the alarm, arguing that the ingredients contain forever chemicals, formally known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
PFAS are said to exist “forever” as they contain toxic chemicals that break down slowly, remaining indefinitely in the environment and accumulating in the human body, leading to negative health impacts.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, cyclobutrifluram breaks down into the smaller forever chemical trifluoroacetic acid. The group adds that isocycloseram is classified as moderately persistent to persistent, meaning it slowly breaks down over time, and it can also transform into 40 smaller PFAS chemicals, which were found to break down over an even longer period of time.
The wildlife non-profit organization says the ingredients approval puts the nation’s children at risk.
“To approve more PFAS pesticides amid the growing awareness of the serious, long-term dangers from these forever chemicals is absurdly shortsighted,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
This backlash — reported by several media outlets, including The Washington Post and Time Magazine — prompted the EPA to release a press statement on Nov. 26, further clarifying its decision to approve the ingredients.
‘False claims’
According to the EPA, classifying cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram as PFAS is misinformation: “The recent false claims that EPA approved a ‘forever chemical’ represents a fundamental misunderstanding of chemistry and toxicology.”
The agency points out that the Biden administration’s EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics previously classified PFAS chemicals as containing two or more fluorinated carbons through a public rulemaking process in 2023. Isocycloseram and cyclobutrifluram contain one fluorinated carbon.
This rulemaking process consisted of scientific studies that found molecules with only one fluorinated carbon do not have persistence or the same bioaccumulation properties as forever chemicals.
Since this definition was adopted, however, it has come under scrutiny from environmental groups like Earthjustice, which state that the scientifically accepted definition of PFAS — adopted by at least 24 states (including Ohio) and endorsed by 160 leading scientists — differs from the EPA’s definition.
The agency says that those who are still concerned about the new pesticides can continue to buy organic products, but emphasizes that organic does not mean pesticide-free.
While the EPA maintains that cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram are not forever chemicals, it did note that they are harmful to pollinators, including being slightly toxic to birds and highly toxic to bees — honey bees in particular.
Low doses of isocycloseram were found to increase mortality rates in honey bees by 15%, according to an EPA study that was part of the pesticide approval process.
To address these concerns, the agency recommends that farmers reduce spray drift, avoid spraying during the hours of the day when bees are most active and stop spraying three days before bloom for orchard crops.
For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-announces-final-registration-new-pesticide-isocycloseram.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
Looks like grow your own is the only way trust epa about as much as big pharma Or a democrat. We grow plenty of food here for our own people if we quit growing gmo and cash crops for China gmo soy and gmo corn for alcohol ,along with glphosate dried grain and ban bacillus thurengenisis. Our lifespans might actually start getting longer again.
So in other words, by the new definition of forever chemicals that the EPA has crafted to CTA, these chemicals are not forever chemicals so long as you don’t consider what happens after they are used as instructed where they naturally break down into chemicals that do meet their definition of forever chemicals. I don’t see any problem with this logic whatsoever!