CBS News
EPA issues ban on pesticide; says DCPA can cause serious risks to unborn babies
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a ban on a weedkiller, saying it poses a threat to the health of farmworkers, pregnant women, and unborn babies.
The pesticide, known as DCPA or Dacthal, is used in the farming industry to control plants, vegetables and fruits, most commonly on household staples broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions.
The weedkiller could affect fetal thyroid hormone levels, the agency said in its Tuesday statement, which can lead to a low birth weight, impaired brain development, and other complications for babies.
A peer-reviewed study published in ScienceDirect said the chemical could also be a possible cause of cancer.
This is the first time in 40 years the agency has invoked its emergency authority to halt the use of a dangerous pesticide. Dacthal has been on the market since 1958.
The EPA had been calling on its manufacturer to submit data on the health effects of DCPA for more than 10 years before it finally complied in 2023.
In April, the agency issued a warning to farmworkers on the “serious, permanent, and irreversible health risks” associated with the pesticide, and indicated it could take regulatory action to suspend the pesticide.
Environmental advocates applauded the decision, which they say was a long time coming.
“Farmworkers should not have to put their children at risk by doing the work needed to grow our food,” said Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers in a statement posted by Earthjustice. “EPA is taking the right step in immediately stopping use of this pesticide.”
The ban took effect immediately, according to the EPA.
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
