A common pesticide ingredient no longer needs safety checks on food

US environmental regulators have removed the requirement for safety checks on a specific chemical compound found in pesticides. This means pesticide manufacturers can now use this ingredient without proving it is safe for human consumption on food or animal feed.

Every chemical used in pesticides must be proven safe for human consumption. This process is expensive and slow. When a chemical gets an exemption, it becomes cheaper and faster to bring new pesticide products to market that use it. This particular chemical is a polymer made from castor oil and soybean oil, which are common agricultural products.