On Tuesday the EPA issued an emergency stop order on the use of an herbicide called dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) due to serious health risks for fetuses.
This is notable because it's the first time in 40 years that the EPA has taken emergency action to stop the use of any pesticide.
According to the EPA: "unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA, sometimes without even knowing the exposure has occurred, could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, and these changes 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 used on broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, cabbage, mustard greens, and onions crops grown in the US - it's been banned in the European Union since 2009. In the US, until last December, when the manufacturer voluntarily pulled it's use, it was also used on turf fields (gold courses, athletic fields, etc).
A 2019 study found that more than 50% of young women living in farming communities in the Salinas Valley in CA (a large agricultural area where pesticide exposure is high), had been exposed to this toxic herbicide. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30380470/)
This is notable because it's the first time in 40 years that the EPA has taken emergency action to stop the use of any pesticide.
According to the EPA: "unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA, sometimes without even knowing the exposure has occurred, could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, and these changes 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 used on broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, cabbage, mustard greens, and onions crops grown in the US - it's been banned in the European Union since 2009. In the US, until last December, when the manufacturer voluntarily pulled it's use, it was also used on turf fields (gold courses, athletic fields, etc).
A 2019 study found that more than 50% of young women living in farming communities in the Salinas Valley in CA (a large agricultural area where pesticide exposure is high), had been exposed to this toxic herbicide. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30380470/)
