The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to put warnings on pesticides linked to cancer even when the agency itself determined a product's ingredients are carcinogenic, according to two new analyses of federal data. The EPA has put cancer warnings on 1.4% " 69 of 4,919 " of pesticide labels for products that contain an active ingredient that the agency itself has designated "probable" or "likely" to cause cancer, the analyses found. In addition, just 1.1% " 242 of 22,147 " of pesticide labels that contain ingredients with "possible" or "suggestive" links to cancer have cancer warnings from the EPA. The analyses ... come as one of the world's top pesticide manufacturers, Bayer, seeks to rid itself of costly litigation over whether its glyphosate-based herbicides cause cancer. The company is pushing the US Supreme Court to rule the EPA should have sole authority over pesticide cancer labels " a ruling that would have far-reaching implications for pesticide labeling. For years Bayer, alongside more than a hundred other agricultural organizations, has also been lobbying for state laws that bar people from suing pesticide manufacturers for failing to warn them of health risks, as long as the product labels are approved by the EPA. Two states " Georgia and North Dakota " passed such laws. The 2026 Farm Bill ... would force uniform pesticide labels across the country, which preempts state or local governments from mandating stricter labels.
Latest
Latest News
Each news summary is created according to strict standards. Here's how we do it.
Each summary is created using a consistent editorial procedure. The target length is approximately 16 lines of 11-point Arial text in a 650-pixel-wide column. Up to 25% of a summary may be set in bold to emphasize the most important ideas. Summaries are composed of verbatim excerpts presented in the same sequence as they appear in the original news source, with very minor editorial additions. Where material has been omitted between excerpts, the omission is indicated with ellipses (...). Any words added by an editor for clarity or context appear in [brackets]. Our original news editor was Fred Burks. Tod Fletcher edited most summaries from 2007 through 2014, and Mark Bailey has served as news editor since 2014.