Hazardous 'forever chemicals' found in common pesticides

"Forever chemicals" are present in many common pesticides, according to new testing by an environmental watchdog group. The findings raise concerns about public health and food safety, and could motivate the Environmental Protection Agency to address the issue. 

"The testing done by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) — a class of chemicals tied to a wide range of health concerns, including cancer — in a handful of publicly available herbicides and insecticides," E.A. Crunden and Ariel Wittenberg report for Energy & Environment News. "The tests found PFAS in Talstar P, an insecticide manufactured by FMC Corp. that kills over 75 types of pests. The company website says the product 'is approved in multiple use-sites, so you can use it almost anywhere: indoors and out, in industrial, commercial and food-handling areas.' The tests also found PFAs in mosquito and tick control agent Mavrik Perimeter, made by Zoecon. Initial testing revealed PFAs in at least two other pesticides, although further analysis is required to confirm those results."

 

Many questions remain. "It is unclear how the PFAs are getting into the pesticides, and whether manufacturers are intentionally adding the chemicals, as opposed to accidental contamination from equipment used to manufacture or transport the pesticides," Crunden and Wittenberg report.

Other testing has found PFAs in hundreds of drinking-water sources in 43 states, especially near military bases and places that use fire-fighting foam. The chemicals, which are used in everything from nonstick cookware to raincoats, have been linked to serious health problems including birth defects, cancers, infertility and weakened immune systems in children, and they've been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they like to stick around in the environment and in the human body.