Tag: epa

Paraquat poison: The toxic herbicide still killing Americans while EPA looks the other way

In this quiet southeast corner of the state, home to roughly 20,000 people surrounded by forest and farmland, a deadly secret hangs in the air. The Sipcam Agro plant here processes the toxic herbicide paraquat, making it the largest single emitter of the chemical in the entire United States. And the residents are paying the price with their lives.

Wayne County’s Parkinson’s disease death rate ranks in the top 7% of all U.S. counties reporting such deaths between 2018 and 2024. This is no coincidence. The evidence linking paraquat to Parkinson’s — the world’s fastest-growing incurable neurodegenerative disease — has accumulated for decades, yet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to allow this poison on American soil.

A history of corporate deception

The story of paraquat reads like a criminal conspiracy. Syngenta and its corporate predecessors knew about the dangers as early as the 1950s, when Imperial Chemical Industries researchers found that paraquat caused central nervous system damage in lab animals. Internal documents now emerging in court show company executives worried about long-term liability as early as the 1980s.

Chevron, which once partnered with Syngenta to sell paraquat, left the business in 1986. While the company claims market forces drove this decision, internal memos reveal top executives were terrified of the legal consequences. Canadian researchers had already found an “extraordinarily high correlation” between Parkinson’s disease and paraquat use.

The EPA’s capture by industry

The EPA’s track record with toxic chemicals speaks for itself. After previously seeking public comment on banning paraquat in 2019 and recommending restrictions on aerial applications, the agency reversed course in 2021, re-registering the poison for 15 more years. The decision was based largely on evidence provided by the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force — an industry advocacy group founded by none other than Syngenta.

This is the same pattern we’ve seen with glyphosate, PFAS and countless other hazardous chemicals. The revolving door between industry and regulatory agencies ensures that profits come before public health. Kelsey Barnes, now a senior adviser to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, was previously a manager of federal government relations for Syngenta.

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Legal Notice Filed to Force EPA to Set Water Standards for Atrazine, a Pesticide Linked to Cancer

Conservation and public health groups filed a formal notice on Thursday, May 28, with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to force the agency to develop water-quality standards for atrazine, a pesticide linked to cancer, according to the groups.

According to the notice, atrazine has been found at dangerous levels in thousands of U.S. waterways and in drinking-water supplies. The filing is a required step before the groups can sue the EPA under the Clean Water Act. [1][2]

Atrazine is the second most widely used pesticide in the United States, with tens of millions of pounds applied annually on corn and other crops. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2025 classified atrazine as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to a report from NaturalNews.com. [2] Since 1999, cancer has been the leading cause of premature death in the United States for those under age 85, according to the book “Taking Action, Saving Lives” by Kristin Shrader-Frechette. [3]

The herbicide is banned in more than 60 countries due to links to birth defects, cancers and fertility problems, reported Children’s Health Defense. [4] Atrazine has been shown to disrupt endocrine systems and cause reproductive abnormalities in wildlife, including turning male frogs into hermaphrodites, according to a 2007 report from NaturalNews.com. [5]

The 1972 Clean Water Act regulates discharges into U.S. waterways, but toxic runoff from agriculture continues to pollute, according to a Frontline report cited by Mercola.com. [6] The act requires the EPA to develop water-quality criteria for pollutants; the agency initiated that step in 1999 but never completed it, according to the groups.

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‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water? What Is the EPA Up To?

Much controversy has surrounded the May 18 announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of proposed rule changes to Biden administration regulations that direct the cleanup of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in Americans’ drinking water.

Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said he strongly supports the EPA’s new tack. “I’ve read a couple of articles in the corporate media that suggest that EPA is trying to roll back PFAS regulations. It’s not true. I’ve met repeatedly with Lee and his staff, and they’re completely committed to end the exposures in a way that’s legal and practical.”

Kennedy continued, “As Lee pointed out, the Biden administration passed a [regulation] very hastily in which they ignored a Clean Water Act mandate for a public comment period . . . I can tell you, that was a fatal flaw.”

The HHS Secretary added that the Biden regulation wouldn’t withstand a court challenge and would be thrown out. “We’re doing it in a way that maintains the … maximum contaminant Safe Drinking Act levels, and gives maximum protection as quickly as possible for the American public.”

Despite widespread criticism from the legacy media and many in the MAHA base, I agree with Secretary Kennedy: the recent EPA policy shift signals an acceleration of PFAS cleanup, not a dangerous step backward.

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Politico Folds Its Climate News Website After Trump EPA Axed Nearly $500K Annual Subscription

Politico is shutting down its E&E News brand just over a year after the Trump administration ended a taxpayer-funded subscription worth nearly half a million dollars per year.

The outlet announced Monday that E&E News will cease operating as a standalone brand and will instead be folded into Politico’s broader energy and environmental coverage.

The move follows a decision by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in February 2025 to cancel the agency’s subscription to Politico and E&E News, saving taxpayers $458,919 annually.

“Best $458,919 we ever saved on behalf of taxpayers,” an EPA spokesperson told The Daily Caller.

“The government shouldn’t subsidize poor journalism, and it’s a stinging indictment of the previous administration that they wasted so many hard-earned American tax dollars keeping this outlet afloat.”

At the time, Zeldin announced on social media that the EPA would not renew its membership with Politico and Politico E&E, citing the nearly half-million-dollar annual cost.

Politico says the closure is part of a broader restructuring of its energy and environmental coverage.

According to an announcement from CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Global Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger, the company plans to launch two new energy-focused newsletters later this year.

“Beginning in September, we are modernizing how we deliver our energy and environmental policy journalism and launching a more focused, high-impact portfolio of daily news and intelligence products,” the executives told Semafor.

“As part of this shift, E&E News will no longer operate as a separate brand.”

“Its journalism and expertise will be fully integrated into POLITICO’s energy and environment portfolio of stories, briefs, analysis and newsletters.”

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Federal Court Strikes Down Landmark Fluoride Ruling on Technicality — ‘Not the Science’

 A federal appeals court has vacated a landmark decision that found fluoridated drinking water poses an “unreasonable risk” to children’s health under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not challenge the substance of the lower court’s findings — that fluoride is toxic to children and ought to be regulated. Instead, the court based its decision on procedural issues related to the lower court’s handling of the litigation.

The case will now go back to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where District Judge Edward Chen will be required to exclude all scientific evidence that became available after 2020.

Michael Connett, attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Defender the court “instructed Judge Chen to travel back in time to 2020 and make this ruling based on a stale factual record.”

Connett said the directive to ignore years’ worth of evidence on fluoride’s dangers runs counter to the intent of the TSCA — which is to protect hundreds of millions of Americans from substances that are harmful to human health.

The federal appeals court ruling, handed down late Thursday, stemmed from a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brought by consumer advocacy groups including Food & Water Watch, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), and Moms Against Fluoridation.

The groups sued after the EPA refused to consider their 2016 citizens’ petition asking the agency to regulate fluoride.

After two bench trials, Chen ruled that fluoride at the federally recommended concentration of 0.7 milligrams/liter (mg/L) posed an “unreasonable risk” to children’s health and ordered the EPA to regulate it accordingly.

However, the 9th Circuit panel said the lower court violated the “party presentation principle” — a legal doctrine requiring courts to act as neutral arbiters rather than taking control of a case’s factual development.

Connett said the decision was “a very expansive and unprecedented application of the party presentation principle.” He said that to date, “this principle has really only been applied to situations where judges raise new legal issues, not where judges use procedural mechanisms to resolve the issues presented.”

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Residents of Polluted Areas Say Trump’s Regulatory Rollbacks Are “Getting Really Scary”

ita Robles’s life is ruled by allergies, the worst effects from which can last for months at a time. She uses rescue inhalers, a nebulizer, and a maintenance inhaler — on top of a slew of other medications. Even then, it’s often not enough.

“There are times when I’m outside just walking to the driveway and it’ll feel like something catches in my throat, and it causes me to go into a choking fit,” Robles told Truthout. “It’s miserable.”

Robles lives in a Houston, Texas, neighborhood suffocated by heavy industry — Denver Harbor, the largest petrochemical hub of the U.S. Robles, 56, calls the neighborhood a “disaster.”

She’s just one of millions of Americans, however, living in communities where people’s quality of life is secondary to the hum of big business — communities at the front line of the government’s regulatory rollbacks and budget cuts.

Since Donald Trump came back into office in January 2025, the federal government has either succeeded in, or is attempting to, weaken and roll back many of the country’s key environmental regulations and other broader programs. Things could get worse if the proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget is approved, with its 52 percent cut in funding under the latest agency head, former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin.

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Vermont Applauded for Banning Parkinson’s-Linked Neurotoxic Herbicide Paraquat

In a move cheered by advocates for public health and the environment, Vermont on Tuesday became the first US state to ban paraquat, a neurotoxic herbicide banned in over 70 countries but protected by the Trump administration despite being linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Democratic Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed H. 739, which bans the sale and use of paraquat, after the legislation was passed by the state Legislature with strong bipartisan support. The ban—which contains a provision allowing for limited use of the chemical on fruit orchards through the end of 2030—is set to take effect on November 1.

As Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) campaigner Liam Sacino recently noted, the US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] acknowledges that “even a small amount” of paraquat “can be fatal, and there is no known antidote.”

“The agency has also decided that due to health risks, it should never be used around home gardens, schools, recreational parks, golf courses, or playgrounds,” Sacino added. “Regardless of these conclusions, the EPA still allows paraquat to be sprayed on farms, posing a potentially increased risk to those who work on the farms and live nearby.”

The EPA paradoxically calls paraquat “an important tool for the control of weeds in many agricultural and non-agricultural settings,” a stance promoted by the chemical industry, some of whose highly toxic products the pesticide-friendly Trump administration has designated as vital to US national security.

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“You Don’t Have the Right to Say Climate Change is a Hoax!”- Purple-Haired Democrat LOSES IT as Lee Zeldin Schools Her on Two Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Congress’s purple-haired congresswoman had a near-complete meltdown after EPA administrator Lee Zeldin completely embarrassed her during an an exchange on ‘climate change’ and the law.

On Monday, Zeldin testified before the House Appropriations Committee regarding President Trump’s 2027 budget request. As The Washington Examiner notes, the proposed budget would cut the agency’s budget in half if approved by Congress.

During the hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) angrily attacked Zeldin for “appeasing polluters” and ignoring Americans under “the false flag of economic growth.”

Zeldin responded by explaining that he’s following the law, pointing out that it says nothing about fighting climate change.

Then, he asked DeLauro if she was familiar with the Loper Bright Supreme Court case.

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is a landmark Supreme Court case in 2024 which overturned the long-standing Chevron doctrine, fundamentally altering the balance of power between the judiciary and federal agencies.

The Chevron doctrine, established in the 1984 case Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, has long been a source of contention. It granted deference to federal agencies in interpreting ambiguous statutes, effectively allowing unelected bureaucrats to make laws through their regulatory actions.

However, by a 6-3 majority, SCOTUS declared that such power is unconstitutional and goes against the principles of democratic governance.

DeLauro had no clue what Zeldin was talking about and went berserk:

“You do not, excuse, you don’t have the right to say climate change does not exist, that it’s a hoax!” she yelled at the EPA Administrator.

The exchange got even worse for DeLauro when Zeldin exposed her for not knowing about another landmark Supreme Court decision: West Virginia Vs. EPA.

In this 2022 case, The Court determined by a 6-3 margin that Congress did not authorize the EPA to compel existing power plants to combat climate change using the Clean Air Act, thereby curbing the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from them.

All DeLauro could do was yell at Zeldin and finally snapped completely by saying, “I don’t have to listen to this BS!”

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MAHA Leaders Demand EPA Protect Americans From Toxic Chemicals

Leaders, farmers and organizations aligned with the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement are calling on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to protect the health of the American public from pesticides, plastics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals that are contributing to infertility, cancer and other chronic diseases.

The 36 MAHA organizations and leaders sent a letter urging the EPA to walk their talk in the forthcoming “Make America Healthy Again” agenda — which may be released any day — with concrete actions that will reduce Americans’ exposure to toxic chemicals, curb the influence of corporations over the agency and address rising rates of chronic disease.

“The American people were promised a Make America Healthy Again agenda that would finally confront the root causes of chronic disease in this country. That must include tackling the toxic chemicals Americans are exposed to every day through pesticides, PFAS, and plastics,” said Vani Hari, Author & Food Activist.

“We desperately need the EPA to put the health of families and children ahead of the interests of chemical companies.”

The letter demands, among other actions, that EPA initiate an emergency review of pesticides that are allowed in the U.S. but banned in the European Union — a policy supported by 87% of Americans.

The groups are also calling for tighter scrutiny of persistent, toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and better monitoring of microplastics in drinking water.

The MAHA leaders point to industry influence at the EPA as the heart of the failure to protect the public from harmful chemicals.

They noted that revolving-door appointments, industry-funded science and regulatory loopholes have become the norm at the agency. EPA needs to chart a new course, they said, and that means prioritizing human health over the interests of chemical corporations.

“The EPA’s public support for glyphosate and pesticide liability protections in the face of growing evidence of scientific harm by independent scientists is a major betrayal of MAHA’s mission and President Trump’s campaign promise to RFK, Jr. [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] to reign in toxic chemicals in our food system,” said David Murphy, the founder of United We Eat and a longtime advocate for food and agricultural reforms.

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EPA Failed to Warn Public of Pesticide Cancer Risks Even When Agency Found High Risk

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has routinely failed to put cancer warnings on pesticide products even when its own assessments have found a high risk of those products causing cancer, according to two new analyses released today by the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Center for Food Safety analyzed the level of risk the EPA permitted for both currently approved and legacy pesticide active ingredients.

The analysis found that pesticides have been allowed on the market with a cancer risk as high as 1 in every 100 people exposed, a far greater level than the EPA’s benchmark of a 1 in a million chance of developing cancer.

Over the last 40 years, the EPA has approved 200 active ingredients that are “likely” or “possible” carcinogens.

The Center for Biological Diversity analysis examined pesticide product labels for all currently approved pesticide products. The EPA has instituted cancer warnings on only 69 of 4,919 pesticide labels (1.4%) containing an active ingredient that the agency has designated a “likely” human carcinogen.

And the agency has instituted cancer warnings on just 242 of the 22,147 pesticide labels (1.1%) that contain an ingredient the agency has designated as a “possible” human carcinogen.

“It’s bad enough that the EPA approves cancer-causing pesticides,” said Bill Freese, science director at the Center for Food Safety.

“But if the agency is going to allow such chemicals to be freely sold at Home Depot, Wal-Mart and farm-supply stores, the very least the EPA must do is require a clear cancer warning on the label. Warnings save lives by incentivizing users to wear protective equipment that reduces risk.”

“It’s dumbfounding that the EPA has failed to require any cancer warning on thousands of pesticide products sold to the public that the agency itself has linked to cancer,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Why should anyone have confidence in the EPA’s ability to keep tabs on the pesticide industry and protect us all from harmful poisons when it won’t even compel companies to put long-term health warnings on pesticides it knows are really dangerous?”

These new analyses come before the April 27 oral arguments in the Supreme Court case Monsanto Company v. John L. Durnell.

Monsanto, since acquired by Bayer, is seeking substantial immunity from future lawsuits brought by Americans who used glyphosate-based products like Roundup and contracted rare cancers that numerous studies have linked to the pesticide.

The case hinges on whether the EPA has sole authority to implement pesticide label warnings.

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