EPA Approves Another PFAS “Forever Chemical” Pesticide Despite Clear Risks To Children & Wildlife

In a very risky move, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the pesticide isocycloseram, despite mounting scientific evidence that “forever chemicals” pose severe risks to children, pollinators, wildlife, and ecosystems.

Once applied to lawns, golf courses, and major food crops, isocycloseram forms numerous highly persistent PFAS chemicals that remain in soil, water, and living organisms for decades. These compounds accumulate in food crops, drinking water, and wildlife. 

Although federal law requires extra safeguards for children, the EPA declined to apply a child-safety buffer for this pesticide. Internal agency models show that young children experience the highest dietary exposure, raising concerns about developmental harm, immune disruption, and long-term health risks linked to PFAS.

The EPA’s own analysis reveals that bees collecting nectar and pollen from treated plants could encounter over 1,500 times the lethal dose of the chemical. This threatens honeybees, bumblebees, native bees, butterflies, and moths. These vital pollinators are already in steep decline, and exposure to PFAS-linked pesticides could accelerate the collapse of critical ecosystems.

A 2024 report from the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Working Group, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility found PFAS chemicals increasingly present in pesticide products, contaminating waterways and accumulating in wildlife and people.

PFAS exposure is known to cause reproductive failure, weakened immune systems, and organ damage in wildlife. Birds may suffer reduced hatch rates, while mammals, from foxes to deer to mountain lions, can accumulate PFAS through contaminated prey and water.

Runoff from treated fields can also contaminate rivers and wetlands, threatening fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals.

The decision comes as the EPA’s pesticide office faces criticism for industry ties and a pattern of approving chemicals despite clear environmental and public-health concerns. Advocacy groups warn that PFAS-based pesticides represent a rapidly emerging national crisis.

Environmental organizations are urging the EPA to halt PFAS pesticide approvals, strengthen protections for children and wildlife, and increase transparency in its regulatory process. With PFAS already widespread in U.S. water, soil, and wildlife, many experts warn that adding new sources of contamination will have consequences for generations.

We urge the Trump Administration to immediately halt further approvals of PFAS-based pesticides and take urgent action to protect children, pollinators, and wildlife from these dangerous “forever chemicals.”