October 16, 2014
Dow''s Enlist weed killer can be used in six US states
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the Enlist Duo weed killer from Dow Chemical Co. is now approved for use in six US states.
The agency is registering the product in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Approval is also pending in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota.
The latest development means that sale of corn and soybeans, genetically engineered to tolerate the herbicide, could proceed.
Dow will also be announcing a marketing plan for the Enlist weed control system "in the coming weeks."
A competing product against Monsanto''s Roundup Ready system, Enlist Duo could help double the earnings at Dow AgroSciences in five to seven years, according to its chairman and CEO, Andrew Liveris.
The product is a combination of the herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D, the latter of which is a main ingredient in manufacturing the controversial Agent Orange herbicide. In the years since its deployment in the Vietnam War, Agent Orange has been condemned for the adverse effects it produced on human health.
Also of concern is the discovery of glyphosate''s ineffectiveness against some weeds found on about 70 million acres of farmland. The figure doubles the amount in 2009, according to a Dow presentation.
The Center for Food Safety warns that Enlist''s approval will increase use of 2,4-D by two-to sevenfold, reaching as much as 176 million pounds in 2020. The herbicide may even create "more intractable weeds" that can tolerate both glyphosate and 2,4-D.
The center will consider available legal options to prevent the commercialisation of the Enlist crops, said its executive director, Andrew Kimbrell.
In the meantime, Enlist is permitted to be sold for a six-year period as the EPA determines if glyphosate-resistant weeds are becoming immune to 2,4-D, according to Jim Jones, an assistant administrator for EPA''s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
"EPA shares the concern of farmers and environmental groups that the resistance to glyphosate experienced by growers will simply be repeated by 2,4-D, contributing to a pattern of increased herbicide use," Jones said.
Dow is required to reapply a sales permit for Enlist after 2020. In addition, the company must submit a separate application to use the herbicide with its 2,4-D tolerant cotton.