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The Trump administration is poised to again approve a new Pfas “forever chemical” pesticide ingredient, a move that is drawing criticism from public health advocates who say the nation’s food and water supply is being put at more risk from the dangerous compounds.
The substance would be sprayed on corn, soybeans and wheat, and it marks the fifth Pfas pesticide ingredient the US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for approval under Donald Trump’s second term as US president.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump and his ally and now health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, promised to rein in the use of dangerous pesticides, but the EPA has loosened oversight and is accelerating pesticide approvals, which is causing friction between Maga and Maha (the make America great again and make America healthy again movements).
Scientists have been raising the alarm over Pfas in pesticides in recent years, but the EPA continues pushing through the ingredients since Trump took office, said Nathan Donley, science director with the Center for Biological Diversity non-profit.
He noted that the announcement came just as the administration cut Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits as part of the ongoing government shutdown.
“Yet somehow the pesticides office is operating at full force,” Donley said. “That shows you where the priorities are.” Most of the pesticide and chemical safety office has not been furloughed.
Pfas are a class of about 16,000 compounds most frequently used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down in the environment.
The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At least 60% of active ingredients approved for use in common pesticides over the last 10 years fit the most widely accepted definition of Pfas, and about 40% overall, a 2023 analysis of EPA data found.
The chemicals are used as an active ingredient in pesticides to kill weeds, insects or fleas on pets. When included as inactive ingredients, Pfas are likely to be used as surfactants and to help the chemicals disperse or be absorbed.
The latest ingredient, called Epyrifenacil, can break down into a smaller forever chemical called trifluoroacetic acid (Tfa).
The EPA’s move comes just a few months after Maha groups were outraged by the lack of action on pesticides included in the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Commission report. It highlighted the limits of Kennedy’s influence in an administration stacked with former pesticide and chemical industry lobbyists and executives.
The top four positions in the new Trump EPA’s chemical safety office that includes the pesticide division are held by former pesticide and chemical industry lobbyists, and advocates have said the pesticide division has long been captured by industry.
Kelly Ryerson, a Maha leader and regenerative farming advocate, said the situation also highlighted a rift between many in Republican leadership and constituents, who, evidence shows, overwhelmingly support stronger limits on dangerous pesticides.
“I’m a big supporter of Kennedy and the Maha movement, but the realistic view is he wasn’t appointed the head of the EPA, so watching some of this being passed or proposed is frustrating,” Ryerson said.
Four of the five pesticides proposed for approval this year have active ingredients that break down into Tfa, a compound that is considered a Pfas per the definition used in by the vast majority of governments, scientists and regulatory agencies around the world.
The EPA in recent years established an unusually narrow definition of what constitutes a Pfas, and omits Tfa and other similar chemicals. Advocates allege the EPA narrowed the definition largely at the pesticide and chemical industry’s behest.
A new EPA webpage claims the pesticide’s safety is thoroughly reviewed, and states that Tfa is not a forever chemical, or dangerous. That matches industry’s claims on Tfa’s safety, but recent research has found it is more toxic than previously thought, and probably harms reproductive systems similar to other Pfas.
Researchers in recent years have been alarmed by the ever-growing level of Tfa in the air, water, human blood and elsewhere in the environment. It can take thousands of years for the compound to fully break down in the environment.
The compound is especially problematic because it cannot be filtered out of water with most filtration methods, and it easily moves throughout the environment via water or in the atmosphere. Recent research found Tfa at higher levels in water near where Tfa pesticide was spread, and at higher levels in non-organic food, suggesting it is taken up by crops.
The Tfa will “be around for generations to come”, Donley said. “For my grandchildren’s grandchildren – that’s what we’re talking about here.”
Ryerson had a warning for elected officials supporting the pesticide industry.
“People are very aware of what’s making them sick in terms of pesticides,” she said. “Congress needs to get on board, or they legitimately will not win, especially with the younger generation calling them out now.”
