California farmland doused with 2.5M pounds of PFAS pesticides each year
7 days ago
- #PFAS
- #Agriculture
- #Pesticides
- California farmland is sprayed with 2.5 million pounds of PFAS-containing pesticides annually.
- PFAS pesticides are heavily used on crops like almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, alfalfa, and tomatoes.
- 52 PFAS-containing pesticides were approved by the EPA and used in 58 California counties from 2018-2023.
- PFAS in pesticides can contaminate food, soil, and drinking water, posing health risks.
- 67 PFAS chemicals are federally approved as active ingredients in pesticides despite environmental persistence.
- PFAS may also be present as undisclosed inert ingredients in pesticides.
- 15% of PFAS pesticide use in California is for non-crop purposes like termite control.
- Commonly applied PFAS pesticides include oxyfluorfen, bifenthrin, trifluralin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and penthiopyrad.
- EPA recently approved new PFAS pesticides, including cyclobutrifluram and epyrifenacil.
- Epyrifenacil breaks down into TFA, a pervasive PFAS water contaminant.
- Environmental groups are petitioning the EPA to ban PFAS in pesticides.
- Some PFAS pesticides banned in the EU are still used in the U.S.