Today, American Vanguard Corporation (AMVAC), a major producer of agrochemicals and pesticides, announced that they would stop selling DPCA, or Dacthal, a pesticide that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says poses imminent, permanent, and irreversible health harms, especially to unborn babies. DCPA is used to kill weeds on crops like onions, cabbage, and radishes. In a rare move, the EPA ordered an emergency suspension of DPCA earlier this month. AMVAC’s announcement comes on the heels of EPA’s order to protect children, farmworkers, and rural communities from exposure to this dangerous pesticide.

DCPA interferes with fetal thyroid hormone levels, which can cause low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and compromised motor skills later in life. Pregnant farmworkers in or near treated fields can be exposed to DPCA at levels up to 20 times higher than what EPA considers safe, even up to 25 days after fields are sprayed. “Spray drift” from application sites into nearby communities also poses unacceptable risks to developing babies and pregnant women.

“We applaud the EPA for its emergency suspension, which led to the cancellation of this dangerous pesticide,” said Patti Goldman, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “This is a step in the right direction in protecting children.”

In an assessment completed last year, the EPA found that DCPA poses serious health risks from in utero exposures that cannot be addressed by requiring that applicators wear additional protective clothing or respirators. The emergency suspension prohibits anyone from using, distributing, selling, or shipping any pesticide product containing DCPA.

“We are very encouraged to see tangible results come as a result of EPA’s decision to ban the harmful and toxic pesticide, DCPA,” said Mily Trevino-Sauceda, executive director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. “No one should fear for their health or their future children while growing food to nourish the nation. Protecting farmworker women and girls, who bear the heavy and dangerous burden of daily pesticide exposure, must be a national priority.”

EPA insisted that AMVAC conduct the thyroid study on human health impacts that uncovered its extreme harm to fetuses during pregnancy. Unfortunately, the agency decided to exclude the same study when in their consideration of the ongoing use of another pesticide, dimethoate. Dimethoate, like DCPA, is also believed to be associated with lifelong harm from fetal exposures. Earthjustice, along with our clients, and community partners call on the EPA to follow its own example and take immediate, similar actions to protect children from the harms of dimethoate.