The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose mission is “to protect human health and the environment,” is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are man-made chemicals used in consumer products like non-stick cookware and stain-resistant clothing, resisting heat, grease and water.
PFAS are also known as “forever chemicals” as they resist breaking down in the environment and in the body.
[Note: According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), PFAS were found in the blood of 97% of Americans.
The NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences NIEHLS reports that research revealed “associations between exposure to specific PFAS and a variety of health effects, altered immune and thyroid function, liver disease, lipid and insulin dysregulation, kidney disease, adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes, and cancer.”]
Since January, President Trump’s EPA Director Lee Zeldin has been pushing to roll back the regulation of “forever chemicals.”
Last week the EPA approved two new pesticides, which qualify as PFAS, for use on food. PBS News reported (below), “it means that farmers can spray them on crops like romaine lettuce, broccoli, and potatoes.”
The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food.
The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of what are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment. pic.twitter.com/eIzPfa6x2g
— PBS News (@NewsHour) November 24, 2025
According to The Washington Post, the EPA plans to approve of an additional four new pesticides, without knowing their long-term impact. The EPA said in a statement that it will share “transparent science-based information on how the chemicals are evaluated.”
[Note: In July, the EPA shuttered its scientific research arm, the Office of Research and Development, which “analyzes dangers posed by a variety of hazards, including toxic chemicals, climate change, smog, wildfires, indoor air contaminants, water pollution, watershed destruction and drinking water pollutants.”]
In October, advocates of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement created by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. met with EPA officials to discuss their calls for stricter regulation of pesticides and their concerns about the health risks of farm chemicals, yet the EPA released an evaluation that largely dismissed environmental risks associated with atrazine (a farm herbicide) that had previously been identified as a “forever chemical.”
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, condemned the EPA cuts and said in a statement: “The Trump Administration is firing hardworking scientists while employing political appointees whose job it is to lie incessantly to Congress and to the American people. The obliteration of ORD will have generational impacts on Americans’ health and safety. This is a travesty.”