The Evolving Legal Battle Surrounding the Dangerous Herbicide Dicamba

The Evolving Legal Battle Surrounding the Dangerous Herbicide Dicamba

On June 4th, 2020 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the EPA’s approval of the use of three different types of dicamba, a herbicide developed by Monsanto. They did so stating that the EPA, “...substantially understated the risk that it acknowledged.” Dicamba is a herbicide developed by Monsanto, that was approved in late 2016 as a replacement for another dangerous herbicide “Round-Up”. Many common weeds had grown resistant to Round-Up along with many other common herbicides. While not as dangerous to people as Round-Up is, dicamba has still been making the farmers that use it sick. The true harm of dicamba that the Ninth Circuit focused on when it vacated the approval of it, however, was the harm it causes to the environment and nearby farms.