EPA Urged to Ban Paraquat

More than 50 U.S. lawmakers are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of a weedkiller linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health risks to humans.

In a letter to the agency, seven U.S. senators said that paraquat, a chemical commonly used on farms across the country to protect row crops, fruits and vegetables, is a highly toxic pesticide whose continued use cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities. The call for a nationwide ban came after 47 U.S. Representatives sent a similar letter to the EPA earlier in October.

According to findings from a recent study, paraquat could more than double a person’s odds of developing Parkinson’s if not sprayed more than 500 meters from where people live and work.