EPA Bans Pesticide That Poses Significant Birth Risks

The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued an emergency ban on the pesticide DCPA due to its health risks for unborn children.Photo byArjun MJonUnsplash

For the first time in 40 years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an immediate emergency pesticide ban. The pesticide, known as DCPA or Dacthal, is regularly used to kill weeds that harm crops like broccoli, kale, and strawberries. When pregnant women are exposed to the pesticide, however, it can disrupt fetal thyroid levels and cause lifelong health problems for their children after they're born.

While the EPA usually undertakes a more lengthy process to cancel or suspend these kinds of products, the agency has concluded that the threat that Dacthal poses to pregnant women and their children was so severe that it needed to be banned immediately. The agency will also move to cancel all production of the pesticide within the next 90 days. Given the swiftness of the pesticide ban, it's worth looking into what led up to the EPA's decision.

DCPA/Dacthal's Agricultural Uses And Health Effects

Short for dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, DCPA or Dacthal is an herbicide regularly used in agricultural settings to kill weeds that would impact crops like broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, onions, and carrots. Manufactured solely by the company AMVAC Chemical Corporation, the herbicide was registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1947 (FIFRA) and first used in 1958. As with all pesticides, DCPA's registration has to be reviewed every 15 years by the EPA in order to confirm that it causes no unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.

Based on a thyroid study AMVAC submitted to the EPA in August 2022, the pesticide can have a major impact on the health of pregnant women and their unborn children. If pregnant women are exposed to Dacthal, the pesticide can alter fetal thyroid hormone levels. Those changed hormone levels can result in those women giving birth to underweight children who may have potentially irreversible lifelong health problems like impaired brain development, impaired motor skills, and decreased IQs.

Since they enter and work in the fields where the pesticide is applied, women farmworkers risk to exposure to it and its health risks, especially if they're transplanting, weeding, or harvesting. Even personal protective equipment (PPE) and engineering controls aren't entirely effective at preventing health risks. As some pesticide drifts through the air after spraying, it can also affect pregnant women who live near areas where it's used. According to EPA estimates, some pregnant women who handle DCPA products can be experience exposure 4 to 20 times higher than what's considered safe for unborn babies.

The EPA Issues Its Emergency Ban

In 2013, the EPA requested AMVAC to provide data on the weed killer and its health impacts and to run a comprehensive study on how Dacthal affected thyroid development in adults and children before and after they were born. The EPA gave the company until January 2016 to submit its data. Though AMVAC submitted various studies between 2013 and 2021, the agency found the data insufficient to assess the pesticide's risks. Furthermore, the company didn't submit a thyroid study until August 2022, after the Biden EPA issued a notice of intent to suspend DCPA unless AMVAC submitted the long-requested data.

Based on the data, the EPA decided that the serious, imminent, and potentially irreversible health risks DCPA posed justified an immediate suspension of all registrations of the pesticide under FIFRA. In March of this year, the agency sent a letter to AMVAC outlining the health risks of Dacthal and signaling its intent to cancel or suspend its use. In April, the agency issued a public warning about the pesticide's health risks and its intention to address those risks. Since the agency determined that there were no practical mitigation measures that AMVAC could implement to continue the use of DCPA, they're planning to issue a notice to cancel all Dacthal products within the next 90 days.

Responses To The Ban

Though AMVAC has yet to make an official statement about the ban, lawmakers and farmworkers have praised the EPA's decision. Representative Raúl Grijalva of Arizona's 3rd Congressional District stated that the pesticide's suspension would prioritize "farmworker health and safety, especially for pregnant women." Mily Treviño Saucedam, the executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, a national organization of women farmworkers, stated that she hoped this decision would promote other actions that involve "listening to farmworkers, protecting our reproductive health, and safeguarding our families."

Final Thoughts

While pesticides are designed to protect crops and other plants from weeds, these substances aren't quite as effective at protecting people from adverse health issues. This week, the EPA issued an emergency ban on the pesticide DCPA or Dacthal, which has been proven to disrupt fetal thyroid levels in pregnant women and potentially lead to severe life-altering consequences for their unborn children. In moving to ban this pesticide, the EPA aims to protect pregnant women, especially farmworkers, and their unborn babies from the negative health effects of a commonly used weed killer.

Disclaimer: This article is intended simply to provide information. It does not replace the medical advice of a physician. Please speak with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

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Article originally written by Nick Thrailkill.