Chair Grijalva Blasts Fish and Wildlife Service Finding that Pesticide Malathion Does Not Jeopardize Endangered Species
Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today expressed disappointment in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) newly released final biological opinion, which determined that malathion—a dangerous and likely carcinogenic pesticide linked to developmental disorders in children—does not jeopardize a single endangered species.
The new findings starkly contradict the draft biological opinion on malathion released in April 2021, which concluded that ongoing use of the pesticide would jeopardize the continued existence of 78 endangered species of wildlife and would adversely impact 23 critical habitats. FWS had never published a level of risk and harm that severe on a given substance.
A 2017 biological opinion by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on malathion and other pesticides produced similarly grave findings. It showed that continued use of malathion is likely to jeopardize 38 of the 77 listed species under NOAA’s jurisdiction, and adversely modify nearly 75 percent of designated critical habitats.
FWS largely attributed their new finding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s agreement to incorporate measures that would potentially restrict use of malathion.
“The extinction crisis we are facing today can no longer be ignored. The previous draft opinion makes it clear that we must stop using malathion as soon as possible—theoretical restriction measures are simply not enough,” Grijalva said. “This was an opportunity for the Biden administration to act on indisputable evidence that would protect dozens of critically endangered species. Instead, they put out a final biological opinion that relies on tricks devised by the Trump administration to skirt robust scientific analyses. I expect to see a full explanation for these disappointing findings.”
This is not the first time FWS’ biological opinion on malathion has come under scrutiny. In 2019, the New York Times reported that President Trump’s Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, David Bernhardt, intervened in the public release of FWS’ biological opinion on malathion and other pesticides. The release was stalled indefinitely, but leaked internal briefing documents for the opinion showed that malathion “jeopardizes the continued existence” of more than 1,200 endangered species. Publication of the opinion would have mandated tighter restrictions on, and possibly led to a ban on, the pesticides.
Malathion is widely used across the U.S. for agriculture and mosquito control. The harms of malathion to both wildlife and humans have been extensively documented since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, but decades of lobbying and industry influence have kept the substance on the market.
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