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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Perkins

California bans paraquat, highly toxic herbicide outlawed in more than 70 countries

aerial view of farmworkers harvesting strawberries
‘Paraquat is the most acutely lethal pesticide ever made,’ said Nathan Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity. Photograph: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

California is banning paraquat, a highly toxic, controversial herbicide used across millions of acres of American cropland.

Public health advocates characterize it as a deadly substance that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson’s disease. It is already outlawed in more than 70 countries, including China, the UK and the EU. Yet in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reapproved it for use in 2021 and 2024.

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