The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Aug. 6 it has enacted its first emergency ban in nearly 40 years to remove the pesticide Dacthal, or DCPA, from the market effective immediately.
“DCPA is so dangerous that it needs to be removed from the market immediately,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s chemical safety and pollution prevention office. “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. That’s why for the first time in almost 40 years, EPA is using its emergency suspension authority to stop the use of a pesticide.”
The EPA suspended use of the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. DCPA is currently undergoing registration review, a process that requires reevaluating registered pesticides every 15 years to ensure they cause no unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment. The EPA intends to issue a notice of intent to cancel DCPA products within the next 90 days.
DCPA poses a risk to unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to it sometimes without knowing the exposure has occurred, the EPA said. EPA estimates that some pregnant individuals handling DCPA products could be subjected to exposures four to 20 times greater than what EPA has estimated is safe for unborn babies.
It also poses a risk to unborn babies of pregnant individuals entering or working in areas where DCPA has already been applied. Current product labels specify that entry into treated fields must be restricted for 12 hours after application. However, the evidence indicates that for many crops and tasks, levels of DCPA in a treated field remain at unsafe levels for 25 days or more, according to the EPA.
Spray drift from pesticide application could also put at risk the unborn babies of pregnant individuals living near areas where DCPA is used, the EPA said.
Exposure could cause changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, which are generally linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ and impaired motor skills later in life, some of which may be irreversible.
DCPA is a pesticide registered to control weeds in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings but is primarily used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions, placing farmworkers at high risk for exposure.
“Farmworkers face burdensome conditions in the fields and often face exposure to harmful pesticides while working to feed our nation,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona. I applaud the emergency action by the EPA which prioritizes farmworker health and safety, especially for pregnant women, by suspending this harmful chemical from our agricultural systems.”
In May 2023, EPA released its assessment on the risks of occupational and residential exposure to products containing DCPA, following its analysis of the thyroid study submitted by AMVAC Chemical Corp., the sole manufacturer of DCPA.
The assessment found health risks associated with DCPA use and application, even when personal protective equipment and engineering controls are used.
AMVAC has proposed removing DCPA products registered for use on recreational turf fields, but the proposed changes don’t address exposure in agricultural settings, the EPA said.