EPA Turnaround on Toxic Herbicide ‘Huge Victory for Future of Food’
(COMMON DREAMS) Deirdre Fulton, November 25, 2015 — Citing “new information” on the herbicide’s environmental toxicity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced it will revoke its controversial approval of Dow’s Enlist Duo after determining that its combination of chemicals may be significantly more harmful than initially believed.
“With this action, EPA confirms the toxic nature of this lethal cocktail of chemicals, and has stepped back from the brink,” said Paul Achitoff, managing attorney for Earthjustice, one of several groups that sued the EPA for its failure to consider the impacts of Enlist Duo on threatened and endangered plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.
As Common Dreams has reported, Dow AgroScience’s herbicide combines glyphosate, found in Monsanto’s Roundup, and 2,4-D, the key ingredient in Agent Orange. The EPA had approved its use in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and North Dakota, and had intended to approve it in additional areas in the near future.
“Glyphosate is a probable carcinogen and is wiping out the monarch butterfly,” Achitoff said, while “2,4-D also causes serious human health effects, and the combination also threatens endangered wildlife. This must not, and will not, be how we grow our food.”