Overview
- EPA approved isocycloseram on Nov. 18 for use on major crops and turf after greenlighting cyclobutrifluram earlier this month, with both chemicals fitting many scientific definitions of PFAS.
- The agency’s assessments reported no human health hazards of concern when used as directed and found no likely jeopardy to listed species, though reviewers flagged risks to pollinators, aquatic invertebrates, and some birds and mammals, prompting mitigation measures.
- Environmental and public-health groups criticize the EPA for narrowing its PFAS definition to exclude single‑fluorinated compounds and for leadership ties to industry, arguing the changes ease approvals of PFAS‑based pesticides.
- New Duke research identified a Burlington, N.C., textile plant as a PFAS source and found a wastewater treatment step was converting precursors into mobile PFAS; measurable levels dropped after operators halted that process, though PFAS‑laden sludge remains a concern.
- Minnesota launched a statewide pine‑needle sampling effort to map PFAS in air and trace sources, expanding on a North Carolina State University method to detect dozens of compounds and compare with historical specimens.