The EPA Approved Pesticides Made With A Forever Chemical

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved new pesticide products containing isocycloseram, a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.”

“Today, the EPA registered ten products containing the new active ingredient isocycloseram, a broad-spectrum contact insecticide proposed for use on agricultural crops, turf and ornamentals, as well as indoor and outdoor uses for commercial, industrial and domestic sites,” the EPA shared in a statement. “This new active ingredient will give farmers an additional tool to help manage crops and grow food for our country.”

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The move comes just one year after then-President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In a social media post about Kennedy, Trump shared that under Kennedy’s guidancethe HHS would “play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country,” Trump shared in a post to X (formerly Twitter). “Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research, and beacons of transparency, to end the chronic disease epidemic, and to make America great and healthy again!”

According to the EPA, the new products containing isocycloseram will target pests like the “tarnished plant bug in cotton, Colorado potato beetle in potatoes, and diamondback moth in Brassica vegetables.” It will also be used on citrus plants to give farmers “an important new product to help control the pest Asian citrus psyllid, the primary vector of devastating citrus greening disease. Additionally, this pesticide has important benefits for managing indoor pests, including cockroaches, termites, and bed bugs.”

Critically, the EPA noted, “No human health risks of concern were identified when isocycloseram is used according to the registered labels.”

However, advocacy groups were quick to denounce the new approval and point to findings of the potential dangers of this new ingredient.

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“To approve PFAS pesticides amid the growing awareness of the serious, long-term dangers from these forever chemicals is absurdly shortsighted,” Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, shared in a statementnoting that this is actually the second PFAS pesticide approved under the current Trump administration, which just approved cyclobutrifluram two weeks prior. “The undeniable reality is that the Trump administration is knowingly putting the nation’s children at greater risk of developing serious reproductive and liver harms for generations to come.”

The Center for Biological Diversity explained that the EPA’s own memorandum on Isocycloseram highlighted the potential dangers of this new pesticide, including “reduced testicle size, lower sperm count, and liver toxicity.” The center also noted that while the memorandum calls the chemical “safe,” it also states that it should not be applied anywhere near livestock, pets, or children.

“For all of the rhetoric about caring about children’s health and well-being, this administration is quick to throw them under the bus whenever it suits their polluting benefactors,” Donley added. “Instead of erring on the side of safety, we get a quick, reckless approval of a new forever chemical without any real thought given to its serious harms.”

A 2022 evaluation by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authorityconducted on rats, rabbits, and dogs, found that the ingredient can increase red blood cell production, cause adrenal gland toxicity, lead to weight fluctuations, result in skeletal malformations in fetuses, and cause testicular degeneration.

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As Chemical & Engineering News explained, the ingredient has a half-life of over three years, meaning that roughly 50% of what is sprayed remains after this time. However, Donley also told the publication that the pesticide’s active ingredients can degrade into trifluoroacetic acid, which can stay in the environment for than 100 years.

Isocycloseram does have support from other agricultural researchers, including University of Georgia Extension Entomologist Mark Abney, who told Farm Progress that, until now, peanut farmers have had limited access to rootworm pesticides to protect their crop. “I hope we get this new product next year and growers can use it,” Abney shared. It also appears to have the support of the European Union, which is considering legalizing its use across a range of produce, including broccoli and coffee beans.

But none of this is likely to change the scientific community’s overall views on forever chemicals. “I’ve been worried about it, and the science panel has been worried about this being potentially an issue for people for a long time,” Scott Bartell, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of California, Irvine, who has been studying and quantifying human exposures and health effects caused by environmental contaminants, including PFAS, previously shared with Food & Wine. “I think the health effects (are) becoming and clear over time.”

While the research is still developing, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) shared several of what it calls “potential outcomes” from PFAS exposure, including changes in cholesterol and liver enzyme levels; small changes in infant birth weight; and changes in the immune system and response to certain vaccines.

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The good news is, there are at least a few ways to mitigate your exposure to these chemicals, including removing non-stick cookware from your kitchen, replacing plastic cutting boards with wood, and educating yourself on which foods have the highest levels of PFAS chemicalsincluding many sports drinks, processed meats, chips, and bottled water.

The only other group that needs to be worried about this new product is America’s pollinators. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Isocycloseram is “highly toxic” to bees and other pollinators, noting that EPA’s memorandum states that pollinators could be exposed to 1,500 times the lethal level of the pesticide. The center added in its statement, “One out of every 3 bites of food we eat — and nearly all nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables — come from plants that need to be pollinated by bees and other pollinating animals.”