Researchers Find Little-Known Toxic Pesticide In Oat Meal
Researchers found a little-known pesticide in four out of five test subjects. It had recently been approved by the Biden administration.
A new Environmental Working Group peer-reviewed study has found chlormequat, a little-known pesticide, in four out of five people tested. Because the chemical is linked to reproductive and developmental problems in animal studies, the findings suggest the potential for similar harm to humans.
The research was published today in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.
Researchers tested the urine of 96 people for the presence of chlormequat, finding it in 77 of them. “EWG’s new study on chlormequat is the first of its kind in the U.S.,” said EWG Toxicologist Alexis Temkin, Ph.D, a lead author of the study. “The ubiquity of this little-studied pesticide in people raises alarm bells about how it could potentially cause harm without anyone even knowing they’ve consumed it.”
Some animal studies show chlormequat can damage the reproductive system and disrupt fetal growth, changing development of the head and bones and altering key metabolic processes, per EWG.
For its study, EWG sourced urine samples collected between 2017 and 2023 from 96 people in the U.S. and tested them for chlormequat at a specialized lab in the United Kingdom.
The tests found chlormequat in the urine of more people and at higher concentrations in samples collected in 2023, compared to earlier years – suggesting consumer exposure to chlormequat could be on the rise.
Environmental Protection Agency regulations allow the chemical to be used on ornamental plants only – not food crops – grown in the U.S.
But since 2018, the EPA has permitted chlormequat on imported oats and other foods, increasing the allowed amount in 2020. Both regulatory changes took place under the Trump administration. Many oats and oat products consumed in the U.S. come from Canada.
Chili powder produced in China was seized by Taiwanese authorities in 2023, who discovered banned substances. Chinese manufacturers producing the chili powderwere subsequently subjected to further inspection. Chlormequat chloride pesticide was among the substances found in the imported chili powder.
According to the FDA, the new batch of chili powder also contained 9 parts per billion of banned Sudan III, as well as 0.07 parts per million of chlormequat chloride. Both substances are banned in crops intended for consumption in Taiwan, the FDA said. Sudan Red III is an industrial dye that has been declared a “toxic chemical substance” by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taiwan.
In April 2023, in response to an application submitted by chlormequat manufacturer Taminco in 2019, the Biden EPA proposed allowing the first-ever use of chlormequat on barley, oats, triticale and wheat grown in the U.S. The EWG organization opposes the change in the rule, which is as yet unfinalized.
“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 is calling on the Departgment of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to test foods for chlormequat and also requested 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.