EPA approves alternative to widely used weedkiller

By Marc Heller | 10/18/2024 04:09 PM EDT

The substitute to the troubled herbicide dicamba is the first to go through the agency’s new system for assessing risks to endangered species.

Farmers wearing protective clothes spray plants with pesticides.

Farmers wearing protective clothes spray plants with pesticides. EPA has approved a new weedkiller to replace dicamba. Shutterstock

EPA has given final approval to a new weedkiller that provides a substitute for a recently banned and cancer-linked pesticide.

The agency said Friday it’s OK’d the registration for glufosinate-P, used on both conventional crops and those resistant to the herbicide. The new pesticide, expected to be widely used on corn, soybeans, cotton and canola, is an alternative to dicamba, a popular weedkiller that a court blocked.

In its announcement, EPA said it found no human health risks to glufosinate-P. Risks to plants and animals, including endangered species, can be minimized through practices required by product labels, the agency said. The decision and related documents were posted to the agency’s public docket.

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Glufosinate-P is the first herbicide to go through EPA’s new system for assessing risks to endangered species and habitats and outlining mitigation strategies.

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