Bill granting protections to pesticide makers advances in the House
The House Appropriations Committee last week advanced a bill containing a provision that would protect pesticide manufacturers from harm caused by their products.
Section 453 of the House’s Fiscal Year 2026 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act states: “None of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to issue or adopt any guidance or any policy, take any regulatory action, or approve any labeling or change to such labeling that is inconsistent with or in any respect different from the conclusion of—(a) a human health assessment performed pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; or (b) a carcinogenicity classification for a pesticide.”
In simple terms, this means the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be prohibited from requiring pesticide makers to update their warning labels—even if new scientific evidence shows the products cause serious health conditions. It would even prevent the EPA from approving label updates, which must go through agency review. Section 453 would make it so the only way a warning label could be updated is if the EPA conducts a “human health assessment” under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)—a process that often takes a decade or more.
This could effectively shield manufacturers from legal action brought by consumers harmed by their products. If consumers accuse companies of failing to warn the public, manufacturers can argue they were unable to update labels without EPA approval—which would only come after a years-long FIFRA review.
Glyphosate
Take glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Glyphosate is a toxic chemical linked to cancer, birth defects, neurological disorders, and hormonal disruption. In 2023, a Missouri jury ordered Bayer, the pharmaceutical giant that owns Roundup maker Monsanto, to pay more than $1.5 billion in damages after finding the herbicide carcinogenic. This came after Bayer set aside $16 billion to settle over 100,000 lawsuits alleging the herbicide causes cancer.
The EPA began a human health assessment of glyphosate in July 2009. Sixteen years later, it remains under FIFRA review. Section 453 would allow Bayer to defend itself by arguing the EPA has not yet permitted a label update.
Atrazine
Atrazine, another widely used pesticide, has been linked to demasculinization, chemical castration, breast cancer, and birth defects. The EPA began its FIFRA review in 2013. Twelve years later, it’s still ongoing.
In one study, researchers found that three-quarters of male frogs exposed to atrazine produced less testosterone and sperm. They showed reduced fertility, and many tried to mate with males instead of females. Ten percent became females capable of producing viable eggs.
“Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults,” wrote the researchers.
Tyrone Hayes, the study’s lead author, added: “When we grow these guys up, depending on the family, we will get anywhere from 10 to 50 percent females. In a population, the genetically male females can decrease or wipe out a population just because they skew sex ratios so badly.”
Similar effects have been observed in fish and reptiles, leading Berkeley researchers to conclude that atrazine affects all vertebrates. Other studies found that atrazine also promotes breast cancer in humans, partly by suppressing immune function. The EPA acknowledges that atrazine poses developmental and reproductive risks to animals and humans, especially children.
Atrazine—owned by Chinese Communist Party-controlled Syngenta—is widely used in the U.S., with about 80 million pounds applied each year, mostly on corn and sorghum.
The EPA approved Syngenta’s re-registration request for atrazine in 2003, based on the recommendations of two advisory committees composed solely of EPA and Syngenta representatives. There were no public representatives.
That year, the EPA also held at least 50 closed-door meetings with Syngenta, hidden from the public.
