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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just suspended all uses of a herbicide that is linked to health risks to unborn babies. It’s the first time in 40 years that the EPA taken this type of action.
The pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also called DCPA or Dacthal, is linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life for babies whose pregnant mothers were is exposed to it, according to the agency.
Dacthal is registered to be used to kill weeds in both agricultural and non-agricultural situations, but is most commonly used on broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onion crops.
“DCPA is so dangerous that it needs to be removed from the market immediately,” said assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff in a statement. “It’s EPA’s job to protect people from exposure to dangerous chemicals. In this case, pregnant women who may never even know they were exposed could give birth to babies that experience irreversible lifelong health problems.”
The agency suspended all registrations of DCPA on Tuesday under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
AMVAC Chemical Corporation, the sole manufacturer of the pesticide, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Quartz.
The move comes after a decade-long effort from the EPA to get data from the AMVAC Chemical Corporation on the health risks of DCPA.
The EPA estimates that pregnant people who handle DCPA are subjected to exposures four to 20 times greater than what the agency has determined is safe for unborn babies.
“[We are] pleased to see the EPA make this historic decision,” said Mily Treviño Sauceda, executive director of National Farmworkers Women’s Alliance. “As an organization led by farmworker women, we know intimately the harm that pesticides, including dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal), can inflict on our bodies and communities.”