Syngenta denies withholding EPA data as US states ban paraquat over Parkinson’s concerns

Syngenta has denied that it has withheld relevant safety data from the Environmental Protection Agency, even as the pesticide paraquat remains legally sold in the United States. The chemical has faced a growing list of bans worldwide, beginning with Sweden’s alarm in 2004 and followed by dozens of other countries as evidence of health risks mounted. The Chinese government, which owns Syngenta, stopped domestic use of paraquat a decade ago after its own studies revealed troubling safety results.

In the United States, the states of Vermont and California have recently banned paraquat, citing research that links the chemical to Parkinson’s disease. California regulators announced in August that paraquat makers had voluntarily agreed to stop selling the chemical after the state identified health concerns in new research. Several federal lawmakers have called for a nationwide ban on the pesticide.

Syngenta denies withholding data, paraquat remains in the U.S. market, Sweden, China, Vermont, and California have banned it, and federal lawmakers are pushing for a nationwide ban.