


A report released on Thursday by the presidential Make America Healthy Again commission raised concerns about the potential health effects of pesticides on American children, but it stopped short of calling the chemicals unsafe.
The report singled out two pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine, which are among the most widely used weed killers in the United States. The report notes that some studies have linked these and other pesticides to adverse health outcomes, especially in children.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who worked for years as an environmental lawyer, has long wanted to rein in use of these and other pesticides. But efforts to include a stronger warning about the chemicals in the report encountered pushback from farmers, industry lobbyists and Republican lawmakers.
“American farmers rely on these products,” the commission said in its report, “and actions that further regulate or restrict crop protection tools beyond risk-based and scientific processes set forth by Congress must involve thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for adequate protection, alternatives and cost of production.” The report focused on what the Trump administration says are the leading causes of chronic disease among American children.
Each year, American farmers spray atrazine on about 75 million acres of agricultural crops, such as sugar cane, corn, pineapples, sorghum and macadamia nuts. Glyphosate is even more widely used: An average of 298 million acres of farmland are sprayed with the chemical annually, including soybean, cotton, corn and grapes. The herbicides are also frequently used to clear out weeds on golf courses, school grounds and city parks, and they have been used in home gardening.
Mr. Kennedy and others have argued that these herbicides are linked to the increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma, which now affect more than half of U.S. adults and about 40 percent of children. The evidence for that is preliminary, however. Many scientists believe that the increased prevalence of certain diseases is likely caused by a combination of factors, possibly including pesticides like glyphosate and atrazine.