Pesticide-Coated Seeds: How the Treated Articles Exemption Circumvents Regulation and Harms the Environment

Authors

Scott Hudson

First Page

93

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Pesticide-coated seeds dominate the seed market for a wide range of crops, making them the primary means of delivering pesticides to many agricultural plants. Scientific research has revealed increasingly adverse effects from pesticide-coated seeds, including contamination of native plants, surface waters and groundwater, as well as causing the death of non-targeted insects and birds. Evidence also shows that pesticides from the seeds migrates to drinking water supplies and potentially imperils human health. Yet pesticide-coated seeds are not regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency due to a little-known exemption called the Treated Articles Exemption. This Article argues that EPA’s failure to regulate pesticide-coated seeds violates the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

Recommended Citation

Scott Hudson, Pesticide-Coated Seeds: How the Treated Articles Exemption Circumvents Regulation and Harms the Environment, 30 Buff. Envtl. L.J. 93 (2024).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/belj/vol30/iss1/3