San Francisco, CA — Farmworker Justice, Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN) North America, and Center for Food Safety challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of four formulations of the new fungicide cyclobutrifluram in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 30, 2025. This new PFAS pesticide is approved for use on romaine lettuce, as seed treatment for cotton and soybeans, and on numerous non-food crops like turfgrass (lawns, sports fields, parks) and ornamentals like Christmas trees.

Cyclobutrifluram is a newly created synthetic fungicide which increases the risk of cancer, particularly tumors in the thyroid, which is a crucial part of the endocrine system that regulates everything from metabolism to brain development and fertility. Endocrine system disruptions are linked to birth defects, significant reproductive harm, and certain cancers in people, particularly farmworkers and others who are in direct contact with these toxic chemicals.

EPA approved the four cyclobutrifluram products on November 3, 2025. In violation of its own guidelines, EPA downplayed health risks (including risks of cancer) and refused to assess the cumulative risk of the fungicide and others like it. The groups are asking the court to declare that EPA’s approval is contrary to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and order a reversal of EPA’s approval of this new PFAS pesticide.