EPA Approves PFAS Pesticides, Poisoning the Soil

On June 30, the EPA did something quietly catastrophic: it approved four new pesticides for use on American food crops. Three of them qualify as PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as “forever chemicals” because they never break down in soil or water.

The chemicals in question are trifludimoxazin, diflufenican, and epyrifenacil. They’ll now be sprayed directly on wheat, corn, soybeans, citrus, apples, and almonds — staple crops that feed the country and hit dinner tables across America.

Once They’re In, They Stay

Here’s why this matters: PFAS don’t degrade. Once they’re in the soil, it’s nearly impossible to get them out. They move through groundwater, they accumulate in crops, they show up in livestock, and they end up in the human body where they’re linked to kidney disease, thyroid damage, and immune suppression.

We already have a PFAS problem. Researchers found PFAS residues in 37% of California-grown non-organic produce samples. Nine out of ten samples of peaches, nectarines, and plums tested positive. California agricultural fields are sprayed with an average of 2.5 million pounds of PFAS pesticides annually.

And that was before June 30.

Compounding a Crisis

These approvals don’t happen in isolation. The same month, the EPA replaced a draft scientific assessment warning that PFAS in sewage sludge could poison farming families with a shorter guidance document that the agency says “better reflects real-world conditions.” Translation: they lowered the bar for what counts as safe.

When sewage sludge containing PFAS is used as fertilizer — a common practice — the contamination cascades through surface water and drinking water, harming fish, deer, turkeys, and crops. Families who depend on wells for water, farmworkers exposed to sprayed fields, livestock grazed on contaminated pasture — they all absorb these “forever chemicals.”

Nathan Donley, the environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the June 30 approvals the largest mass pesticide approval he’d ever seen.

What This Means for Farmers

Family farmers are caught in the middle. They’re told these chemicals are safe, but the contamination risk is irreversible. Once PFAS saturate their soil, the land is compromised — possibly permanently. This isn’t just a crop yield issue. It’s a land value issue. It’s a public health issue. It’s a generational issue.

The irony is cruel: farmers already fighting rising debt and compressed margins now face regulatory approval for chemicals that could render their soil unusable and their water unsafe.

The Pushback

Environmental groups are suing. The Congressional delegation understands the stakes. But the chemicals are already approved and ready to be sprayed. The EPA’s logic — that these PFAS pesticides are “safe according to the label” — ignores a core truth: “according to the label” means according to corporate guidelines, not according to soil science, water chemistry, or what happens in real fields over real decades.

Once you spray PFAS on the land, you’re not just treating a crop. You’re poisoning the foundation. And the EPA just gave that poison a federal stamp of approval.

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