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Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

 

The Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of a new fungicide. The EPA approved the new fungicide, inpyrfluxam (in-PEER-flux-um), in August. The two groups in a lawsuit claim the approval came “despite compelling research showing it to be very highly toxic to fish, including endangered salmon and steelhead.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims the fungicide poses substantial risks to large birds, including whooping cranes. The EPA approved the fungicide for use on some of the most widely grown U.S. crops, including corn, soy, grains, beans, sugar beets, apples and peanuts. The fungicide was approved for foliar and seed treatment uses to protect against Rhizoctonia species causing seed decay, seedling damping‐off, and root rot. The Center for Biological Diversity says, “The EPA broke the law when it failed to make sure this highly toxic fungicide won’t drive endangered species closer to extinction, and we’re going to hold the agency accountable.”