An emergency order was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency suspending all uses of the weedkiller sold under the brand name Dacthal. Due to its health risks—particularly for farmworkers and pregnant people—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exercised its emergency authority to suspend the use of a pesticide to “prevent imminent hazard.”
The ban of the pesticide, dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate and chlorthal-dimethyl (DCPA), goes into affect immediately while the EPA begins the cancellation process, which will lead to a permanent ban of DCPA.
“The EPA’s decision to finally suspend DCPA is welcome news, but it’s long overdue,” Alexis Temkin, Ph.D. and senior toxicologist at Environmental Working Group (EWG), said. “For years, EWG and other public health advocates have warned about the serious risks the weedkiller poses to farmworkers, pregnant people and other vulnerable populations.”
The EPA classified DCPA as a “possible carcinogen” in 1995 based on a study conducted by AMVAC, Dacthal’s manufacturer, in 1993, that showed it caused thyroid tumors in animals. In 2013, AMVAC was required to submit an additional study to show health effects on the fetal thyroid among other information. The research was submitted to the EPA in 2022 and showed that “even low doses of DCPA exposure can harm the developing fetus,” EWG reported.
AMVAC never submitted the other data requested by the EPA, so the agency suspended the use of DCPA in August 2023, a de facto temporary ban.
The suspension was lifted three months later once again allowing Dachtal’s use until the emergency order was recently announced, which halts all uses of the pesticide.
“Countless people have been exposed to DCPA while the EPA abdicated its responsibility,” Temkin said. “The agency should have taken action decades ago, when it first identified the human health risks posed by this toxic crop chemical.”
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