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EPA to allow limited aerial applications of paraquat

The Environmental Protection Agency says it will continue to allow limited aerial applications of paraquat. The interim registration reverses protections proposed last year to ban aerial application of the herbicide.

The agency says aerial applications will be limited to a maximum of 350 acres per applicator within a 24-hour period for all uses except cotton desiccation, where there are no acreage limitations.

Paraquat has been subject to lawsuits that claim there is a link between exposure to the herbicide and Parkinson’s Disease. But, Syngenta, a paraquat registrant, says there are no studies that show the herbicide causes Parkinson’s disease.

Michael Miller is an ag litigation specialist with The Miller Firm, that represents some of the plaintiffs.

“Published studies as far back as 2001 have shown that Paraquat crosses that blood-brain barrier and once it does it starts doing real damage, real quick and is irreversible,” he says. “That’s the warning we hope these lawsuits will bring to other farmers that there are other herbicides like Atrazine, Roundup, or Diquat that could get the same job done.”   

Miller says the lawsuits will be in trial within the next year.

In a statement, Syngenta says its paraquat products have been approved by U.S. regulatory agencies as safe and effective for more than 55 years. The company says paraquat is an essential weed-control and resistance-management tool for farmers and its effective use also benefits the environment, enabling conservation tillage and no-till farming.

“In the U.S., paraquat formulations are restricted use products, which require certification and associated training for use. Syngenta is committed to product stewardship and helping people stay safe,” Syngenta says. “We care deeply about the health and well-being of farmers and are dedicated to providing them with safe and effective products. No peer reviewed study, including the largest study which involved 38,000 farmers, has ever concluded paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease.”

In its review, EPA says “there is limited, but insufficient, evidence to conclude that there is an association to Parkinson’s Disease.

The EPA is requiring a 50- to 75-foot residential buffer for all aerial applications of paraquat, enclosed cabs for applications to more than 80 acres in a 24-hour period, and PF10 respirators or enclosed cabs for applications to 80 acres or less. It will prohibit the use of human flaggers during application and the use of mechanically pressurized handguns and backpack sprayers.

Brownfield interviewed Miller before the registration decision was released by the EPA.

The Miller Firm tried the first Roundup case in San Francisco.