Ingredients labeled as “inactive” in pesticide formulas are potentially poisoning the environment, crops and animals, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rebuffed calls to examine their toxicity and risks.

Agency rules do not require the EPA to account for inactive ingredients when it evaluates pesticide formula safety, despite the fact that industry labels dangerous substances like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as inert.

A 2017 Center for Food Safety (CFS) legal petition asked the EPA to close the loophole, but the agency denied the request this week. Many of the 18,000 pesticides approved for use by the EPA will likely remain more toxic than anyone knows, said Bill Freese, the science director at CFS.

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/09/epa-cfs-toxic-inactive-ingredients-pesticides