EPA asked to add cancer warnings to pesticide labels

Oct. 5, 2026

By Mary Hightower
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture

Fast facts

• EPA receives petition to add warnings to pesticide labels
• Petition could take years, attorney says 

Download portrait photo of Brigit Rollins

(271 words)

(Editor’s note: This version corrects the photo cutline.) 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A request for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to add cancer warnings to certain pesticide labels likely won’t be resolved quickly.

A petition from the Center for Biological Diversity reflects an effort to change pesticide labeling requirements, says Brigit Rollins, staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center. (UADA photo)

Thirteen days after the June 25 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, which held that FIFRA preempts certain state law failure-to-warn claims based on EPA-approved pesticide labels, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to amend its pesticide labeling regulations.

Specifically, the petition asks EPA to require cancer warnings on pesticide products containing active ingredients EPA has determined are known/probable/likely/possible human carcinogens or have suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity.

“The petition argues that the change is necessary to satisfy EPA’s obligations under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, which requires labels to include warnings needed to protect human health,” said Brigit Rollins, staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act allows EPA to regulate the distribution, sale, production, and use of pesticides and pesticide devices in the United States.

The Durnell lawsuit was initially brought by a plaintiff who claimed that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, had caused him to develop cancer and Monsanto had failed to warn him of that risk.

“Although the Supreme Court agreed with Monsanto that federal pesticide law prevented the plaintiff from raising that specific claim, the high court noted that anyone could petition EPA to require cancer warnings on registered pesticide products,” Rollins said. “The recent petition from CBD reflects an effort to change pesticide labeling requirements through that process.”

The next step, Rollins said, is “waiting for EPA to respond to the petition. Public input might occur if EPA were to grant the petition, but less likely if they deny the petition.”

The timeline for a resolution is hard to determine, but “I think this one is going to take a while to play out. Potentially years.”

Find more information about Monsanto Co. v. Durnell at the National Agricultural Law Center site.

About the National Agricultural Law Center

Created by Congress in 1987, the National Agricultural Law Center serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The NALC works with producers, agribusinesses, state and federal policymakers, lenders, Congressional staffers, attorneys, land grant universities, students, and many others to provide objective, nonpartisan agricultural and food law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community.

The NALC is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and works in close partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural Library.

To learn more about ag and food research in Arkansas, visit aaes.uada.edu. Follow the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station on LinkedIn and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about UADA, visit uada.edu. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

About UADA 

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, UADA conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.  

UADA is one of 22 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three university campuses.   

Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.

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Media Contact:
Nick Kordsmeier
nkordsme@uada.edu