Wire

Paraquat gets pulled from the U.S. market

A House measure backed by Representative Anna Paulina Luna and Representative Chellie Pingree would wipe out every approved use of the pesticide. Farmers would need other weed-control options.

Farmworkers, pesticide applicators and people living near treated fields would feel the biggest change if Congress enacted H.R. 9357. The House bill from Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, and Representative Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, would cancel the registration of all uses of paraquat, a weedkiller used in agriculture.

That would end paraquat’s legal sale and use in the United States, not just tighten the label or trim back a few applications. The point of the bill is a full cutoff.

A clean break, not a tighter rule

For farmers and commercial applicators, the practical effect would be simple and disruptive. They would have to move to other weed-control products and practices.

For nearby communities, the change would remove one of the more controversial chemicals from fields altogether, instead of leaving it in place under new limits.

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