A study by the EWG opposes the plan. The proposed rule has not yet been finalized.
“The federal government has a vital role in ensuring that pesticides are adequately monitored, studied, and regulated,” Temkin said. “Yet the EPA continues to abdicate its responsibility to protect children from the potential health harms of toxic chemicals like chlormequat in food.”
EWG’s Call to Action
EWG urges the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration to test foods for chlormequat and requests that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention add chlormequat to its biomonitoring program. The organization also calls for more research on the effects of chlormequat on human health.
EWG conducted its own tests of oat-based foods in 2022 and 2023, finding chlormequat in numerous non-organic oat-based products. Organic oat products had little to no detections of the chemical.
Reference: “A pilot study of chlormequat in food and urine from adults in the United States from 2017 to 2023” by Alexis M. Temkin, Sydney Evans, Demetri D. Spyropoulos and Olga V. Naidenko, 15 February 2024, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
DOI: 10.1038/s41370-024-00643-4