For the first time in 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken emergency action to stop the use of a pesticide linked to serious health risks for unborn babies.
Tuesday’s emergency order applies to dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA or Dacthal, an herbicide used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions. When pregnant farmworkers and others are exposed to the pesticide, their babies can experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, which are linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ and impaired motor skills later in life.
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“DCPA is so dangerous that it needs to be removed from the market immediately,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a statement. “It’s EPA’s job to protect people from exposure to dangerous chemicals. In this case, pregnant women who may never even know they were exposed could give birth to babies that experience irreversible lifelong health problems.”
The sole manufacturer of the pesticide, AMVAC, had sought to avoid the emergency action. The company had voluntarily pulled all DCPA products used on turf, reducing the risks to golfers, athletes and workers who maintain turf fields.
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But in a March letter to AMVAC, EPA officials wrote that this voluntary step was not sufficient to protect farmworkers and others exposed to the herbicide. The officials wrote that changes to thyroid hormone levels in the fetuses of pregnant rats exposed to DCPA suggested “serious risks of concern in humans.”
AMVAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In April, the agency warned farmworkers about the risks of DCPA, saying it planned to take emergency action “as quickly as possible.” The emergency order Tuesday suspends all registrations of the pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
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Mily Treviño Sauceda, executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, also known as the National Farmworkers Women’s Alliance, praised the agency’s action Tuesday.
“As an organization led by farmworker women, we know intimately the harm that pesticides, including dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal), can inflict on our bodies and communities,” she said in a statement. “This emergency decision is a great first step that we hope will be in a series of others that are based on listening to farmworkers, protecting our reproductive health, and safeguarding our families.”
Tuesday’s emergency order applies to dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA or Dacthal, an herbicide used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions. When pregnant farmworkers and others are exposed to the pesticide, their babies can experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, which are linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ and impaired motor skills later in life.
Ask your climate questions. With the help of generative Al, we'll try to deliver answers based on our published reporting.
“DCPA is so dangerous that it needs to be removed from the market immediately,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a statement. “It’s EPA’s job to protect people from exposure to dangerous chemicals. In this case, pregnant women who may never even know they were exposed could give birth to babies that experience irreversible lifelong health problems.”
The sole manufacturer of the pesticide, AMVAC, had sought to avoid the emergency action. The company had voluntarily pulled all DCPA products used on turf, reducing the risks to golfers, athletes and workers who maintain turf fields.
🌱
Follow Climate & environment
But in a March letter to AMVAC, EPA officials wrote that this voluntary step was not sufficient to protect farmworkers and others exposed to the herbicide. The officials wrote that changes to thyroid hormone levels in the fetuses of pregnant rats exposed to DCPA suggested “serious risks of concern in humans.”
AMVAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In April, the agency warned farmworkers about the risks of DCPA, saying it planned to take emergency action “as quickly as possible.” The emergency order Tuesday suspends all registrations of the pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
Advertisement
Mily Treviño Sauceda, executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, also known as the National Farmworkers Women’s Alliance, praised the agency’s action Tuesday.
“As an organization led by farmworker women, we know intimately the harm that pesticides, including dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal), can inflict on our bodies and communities,” she said in a statement. “This emergency decision is a great first step that we hope will be in a series of others that are based on listening to farmworkers, protecting our reproductive health, and safeguarding our families.”
