Tag: herbicides

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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Widely Used ‘Chemical Cocktails’ Tied to Gut Damage, Inflammation

Herbicide mixtures widely used on industrial farms may damage the gut, disrupt healthy bacteria and trigger inflammation at exposure levels regulators currently consider safe, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

The research, published in April in Archives of Toxicology, examined glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller — alongside two other common herbicides, dicamba and 2,4-D. Rats exposed to the chemical combinations developed intestinal inflammation, tissue damage, oxidative stress and signs of “leaky gut.”

The findings raise concerns about how the safety of agrochemicals is typically evaluated — because regulators generally assess chemicals one at a time rather than in the combinations people and wildlife are actually exposed to in the environment.

“This study comprises the most comprehensive investigation of the impact of glyphosate on gut structure and function,” the authors wrote. The study is also the first to examine the combined effects of glyphosate with dicamba and 2,4-D at “regulatory relevant” doses deemed to be safe, the authors said.

“The findings show that the levels of these herbicides, when ingested as a mixture, have adverse effects and are not safe at all – and that regulatory assurances of safety are false,” according to GMWatch, which reported on the study.

The study, led by glyphosate expert Michael Antoniou, Ph.D., comes amid escalating concerns about chronic exposure to agricultural chemicals, particularly in communities near large-scale farming operations.

Glyphosate, the key active ingredient in Roundup, has long been controversial because it may cause cancer.

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Disease Causing Herbicides Detected in All Pregnant Women, Levels Only Increasing — Study

A biomonitoring study has revealed that the toxic weedkillers dicamba and 2,4-D were found in all 10,0037 pregnant participants during 2010 to 2012, and that the levels of those herbicides in pregnant women has increased between 2020 to 2022.

2,4-D can cause decreased head circumference in infants, deficits in auditory processing in infants, oxidative stress, while dicamba can cause abnormal cell division and growth, increased risk of birth defects in male offspring, increased risk of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer, according to the researchers in the ‘Introduction’ section.

“100% of the pregnant study participants had 2,4-D detected in their urine in both the 2010–2012 cohort and the 2020–2022 cohort,” the study said in the ‘Discussion’ section.

Not only was 2,4-D detected in all women in the earlier cohort, dicamba increased significantly in the later cohort.

“…the proportion of women with dicamba detected in their urine is significantly higher in the more recent cohort,” the study said in the ‘Results’ section. “Though 2,4-D concentration levels increased, the difference was not significant.”

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