Trump EPA Approves Its Fifth ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticide

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the highly persistent pesticide trifludimoxazin for use on wheat, oats, oranges, apples and almonds. The pesticide is a “forever chemical” — often called PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

“This is the PFAS presidency brought to you by Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Waiting to open the floodgates on new pesticide approvals until after the Supreme Court granted immunity to pesticide companies takes a special kind of callousness.”

The approval late Tuesday marked the third new forever chemical pesticide approved in a single day by the Trump administration. Diflufenican and epyrifenacil were also approved Tuesday.

Often the EPA will accompany new pesticide approvals with a press release to alert the public, however the agency has done nothing to announce these approvals other than quietly post approval documents on regulations.gov.

This is the fifth PFAS pesticide approval under Trump in less than two years in office. The previous two PFAS pesticide approvals were cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram. The Biden administration approved one PFAS pesticide in the prior four years.

A 2024 report from researchers at the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Working Group and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility found that forever chemicals are increasingly being added to U.S. pesticide products, contaminating waterways and posing potential threats to human health.

In addition to the three new PFAS pesticides approved Tuesday, the EPA also approved new uses of the PFAS pesticide bifenthrin, the first food use of chlormequat, and the non-PFAS, fluorinated pesticide fluoxapiprolin.

While some PFAS differ in their toxicities, potential to accumulate in the body, and potential to pollute water, all PFAS are highly persistent and have chemical bonds that will essentially never break down. PFAS ingredients in pesticide products have been found to contaminate streams and rivers throughout the country.

The EPA has found that trifludimoxazin will eventually break down into 12 different PFAS chemicals. Trifludimoxazin is one of the few PFAS pesticides that does not break down into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), however EPA has found that it breaks down into other PFAS chemicals that are highly persistent.

The agency has classified trifludimoxazin as having “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential” based on the development of thyroid tumors in exposed animals.

Trifludimoxazin’s approval will allow it to be combined in the same product as another PFAS pesticide called saflufenacil, all but ensuring that any resulting pollution will contain mixtures of different PFAS chemicals.

Diflufenican can also break down into a chemical called 2,4-difluoroaniline malonate, a fluorinated chemical that has a similar structure and toxicity profile to aniline, a component in tobacco smoke. Although the EPA has classified aniline as a probable human carcinogen it did not require any studies to assess the cancer risks of diflufenican’s breakdown product in real-life settings.

Epyrifenacil causes liver tumors in animal studies and is part of a class of pesticides called PPO-inhibitors, many of which are also linked to liver tumors. However, the EPA categorized it as “not likely to be carcinogenic” at low doses based solely on the pesticide company’s interpretation of their own studies.

The EPA also approved new uses of another PFAS pesticide, bifenthrin. Uses of bifenthrin that have been in place for years have made it one of the most widely detected insecticides in U.S. streams, lakes, and rivers, where it is often found at levels that exceed aquatic safety thresholds.

The EPA’s approval of chlormequat, a non-PFAS pesticide, is also controversial. Chlormequat is found in the urine of 90% of Americans, thought to come mostly from residues on imported foods where the pesticide has been used. Approval of its use on U.S. wheat and oats ensures that exposure to the U.S. population will increase dramatically. The pesticide has been linked to reduced fertility, reproductive toxicity and birth defects.