EPA Revises Atrazine Safety Limits on Fruits and Veggies
Published Date: 12/11/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The EPA is updating rules about how much of certain pesticides, like atrazine, can safely stay on our food. Farmers, food makers, and pesticide companies should pay attention because these changes help keep food safe and protect the environment. Comments on these updates are open until February 9, 2026, so now’s the time to speak up!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 2 mixed.
Big MCPA changes for forage, livestock, and hogs
For MCPA, EPA proposes new crop group tolerances of 500 ppm for "Grass, forage, fodder, and hay, group 17, forage" and 200 ppm for the same group's hay. EPA also proposes revoking tolerances for "Hog, fat", "Hog, meat", and "Hog, meat byproducts" with an expiration date of June 9, 2026, and proposes changes to livestock and grain tolerances (for example, milk from 0.1 ppm to 0.04 ppm and several cereal grains to 0.2 ppm).
EPA says food residues remain safe
EPA is proposing changes to many pesticide tolerances and says, based on its safety reviews, there is a "reasonable certainty that no harm will result" to the general population and to infants and children from the listed pesticide residues. The proposal covers multiple pesticides and is open for public comment until February 9, 2026.
Atrazine tolerance cut for sweet corn forage
For atrazine, EPA proposes lowering the tolerance for "Corn, sweet, forage" from 15 ppm to 1.5 ppm and would set the existing tolerance to expire 180 days after publication of the final rule. If you grow, process, or sell sweet corn forage, these new numbers change the residue level that is allowed on that commodity.
Harmonizing and lowering some tolerances
EPA proposes harmonizing U.S. tolerances with international Codex MRLs and OECD rounding, which includes lowering some tolerances such as diquat on banana and coffee from 0.05 ppm to 0.02 ppm, and lowering several pirimiphos-methyl livestock tolerances from 0.02 ppm to 0.01 ppm and corn/sorghum grain from 8 ppm to 7 ppm. Where tolerances are lowered, EPA would propose the existing tolerance expire 180 days after publication of the final rule.
New or revised tolerances for specific commodities
EPA proposes establishing or revising tolerances for specific commodities, for example diquat "Clover, seed" at 2 ppm; MCPB changing "Pea, dry, seed" to 0.03 ppm and "Pea, edible, podded" and "Pea, succulent, shelled" to 0.02 ppm; and setting diquat-related animal feed and herb/spice tolerances at 0.2 ppm and some vegetable tolerances at 0.02 ppm. Where EPA lowers an existing tolerance, it proposes the existing tolerance expire 180 days after the final rule's publication.
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Key Dates
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