Congress Sells Out Consumers in Chemical Industry Giveaway

Language currently being considered in a House budget bill would prevent the EPA from using the latest science to protect the public from dangerous pesticides. Action Alert!

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THE TOPLINE

• Section 453 of the House Interior Appropriations bill would block the EPA from updating pesticide labels to reflect new scientific findings, even in cases of clear health risks like cancer or birth defects—effectively protecting chemical companies from liability and public accountability.
• Section 507 prevents the EPA from finalizing a risk assessment on PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge, undermining efforts to limit public exposure to these toxic substances, which are already contaminating food and water supplies.
• The bill strengthens corporate control over the food system by shielding agrochemical giants like Bayer from lawsuits and scientific scrutiny, further entrenching their dominance over seeds, pesticides, and the farming industry.

We’ve been reporting on efforts to prevent state governments from enacting their own pesticide safety laws. Now the feds are getting in on the action, not to protect consumers, but to protect the chemical industry.

Section 453 of the Federal House Interior Appropriations bill prohibits the EPA from taking any action that is “inconsistent with or in any respect different from the conclusion of (a) a human health assessment performed (under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act [FIFRA]); or (b) a carcinogenicity classification for a pesticide.” 

Translation: it is now much, much harder for the government to update a pesticide label to reflect the latest science. This policy is has been designed to be an immunity shield for chemical companies. For example, it means no cancer warning on glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup, no birth defect warnings on neonicotinoids, no Parkinson’s warnings on paraquat, and the list goes on. In fact, if this becomes law, the EPA couldn’t update a label even if the company asks them to! Even when the science is clear, the label would stay frozen unless EPA restarts a full review, which can take years or even decades.

We’re also being sold out on PFAS protections. Specifically, Section 507 states that no funds can be used to finalize, carry out, oversee, or enforce the draft risk assessment looking at PFAS in sewage sludge. We reported a while back that sewage sludge is contaminated extensively with PFAS and is used widely in agriculture as fertilizer (yes, often being termed ‘biofertilizer’). When we found significant levels of PFAS in organic and conventionally-grown supermarket kale back in 2023, we considered that sewage sludge and irrigation water may have been the sources. In fact, some estimate that as many as 5 percent of all crop fields could be using sewage sludge contaminated with PFAS. Low levels of PFAS have already been detected in vegetables, honey, dairy products, eggs, various meat products, and both bottled and tap water.

The bill is currently being debated in the House Appropriations Committee and has some more hurdles before a full House for a vote.

The Specifics

Section 453 would prevent EPA from approving updated pesticide/herbicide warnings that differ from its most recent assessments—which are themselves usually based on industry-funded studies—providing chemical companies a stronger legal foundation they can use to escape liability for the harms their products cause. Pesticide companies will argue it is impossible to comply with both the federal government’s labeling regulations and their duty under state product liability law to warn consumers about risks posed by their products. “We couldn’t warn the public about the increased risk of cancer: the EPA didn’t approve that label change!”

Bayer/Monsanto is, in fact, already using this kind of legal argument to try to get cancer lawsuits against them thrown out in the Supreme Court.

This amounts to a ‘get out of jail free’ card for the chemical industry at the expense of ordinary Americans who get sick and die from their products.

A Threat to Public Health

EPA reviews are notoriously lengthy processes that can drag on and on. The health review for glyphosate, for example—linked to endocrine disruption, reproductive harm, neurodevelopmental issues, and cancer—has not been updated since 1993—more than 30 years ago.

Speaking to the dangers of failing to base pesticide labels on the most up-to-date science, pediatrician and ANH friend Michelle Perro, MD of GMOScience said: “Early exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can permanently affect brain development, reproductive health, and metabolic regulation. By preventing timely label updates, Section 453 increases the likelihood of lifelong, irreversible harm to the youngest and most vulnerable members of our communities. In addition, pesticides are obesogens, fueling the childhood metabolic health disaster of obesity, diabetes, and future cardiovascular disease from these unnecessary chemical exposures.”

If Section 453 passes, pesticide manufacturers will have free rein to produce and sell dangerous chemicals without consequence. Farmers, farmworkers, and consumers exposed to these toxins would have no legal recourse. Without the threat of lawsuits, these companies would have little incentive to invest in safer alternatives or disclose known risks.

A Corporate Takeover of Our Food System

The push for Section 453 isn’t just about shielding pesticide makers from accountability—it’s about protecting a massive corporate grip on our food supply.

Consider Bayer, the pharmaceutical giant that acquired Monsanto in 2018—after the release of the explosive Monsanto Papers and despite tens of thousands of pending lawsuits over Roundup exposure. Why would any company take on such legal baggage?

The answer: Bayer now controls a third of the global seed market and nearly a quarter of the agrochemical market. When one corporation owns the rights to both the pesticides and the genetically modified seeds engineered to withstand them, the consequences for farmers, consumers, and ecosystems are profound.

Check out this video looking at the history of DDT, glyphosate, and the movement to return balance to our food system!

Section 453 would protect this dangerous consolidation by ensuring that no new scientific findings, no matter how alarming, could disrupt the status quo. Labels would remain outdated. Lawsuits would be blocked. And powerful corporations would be further insulated from consequences—even as they shape what ends up on our plates.

Action Alert!