EPA has proposed use of the weedkiller dicamba for certain soybean and cotton crops, the agency announced Wednesday while also dismissing concerns about human exposure to the cancer-linked herbicide.
The agency wants to allow use of three dicamba products to control herbicide-resistant broadleaf weeds and released draft environmental and human health assessments on the weedkiller.
“These new products would give farmers an additional tool to help manage crops and increase yields in order to provide a healthy and affordable food supply for our country,” the agency wrote in its release.
EPA said last year it would consider an application from Bayer Crop Science, a pesticide producer, to let farmers use dicamba after the agency partially banned the product. Use of dicamba has been debated due to its tendency to drift and kill crops on neighboring fields.
