Unreasonably Delayed Agency Action by the EPA: Neonics

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with protecting people from toxic pesticide exposures by setting maximum allowable levels of pesticides in food, known as “food tolerances.” These tolerances are designed to limit exposure of pesticides in our food to “safe” levels—meaning there is a reasonable certainty that they would cause no harm to human health—and are determined by procedures outlined in the FQPA and EPA regulations. 

On May 4, 2020, NRDC filed a petition with the EPA alleging the food tolerances for neonicotinoids (neonics)—neurotoxic insecticides that post serious threats to human health—are not safe for consumption by the American population under the FQPA. NRDC alleged that the EPA based the tolerances on a faulty analysis that ignored evidence of neonics’ health harms at low doses in industry-submitted rodent studies; didn’t account for infants’ and children’s sensitivity to neonics; failed to analyze the cumulative impacts of exposure to all neonic insecticides; and didn’t fully account for exposure to breakdown products in water and food.  

Children are especially at risk from neonic exposures. Foods commonly consumed by children have been found to be contaminated with these insecticides, including baby food and fruits like apples, strawberries, and cherries. Neonics are not filtered out by conventional water treatment, so infants can be exposed from baby formula reconstituted with neonic-contaminated tap water. Neonics can also pass to babies through breast milk, as well as to the fetus through the placenta. In recent nationwide testing, neonics were detected in more than 95 percent of pregnant women. These statistics are concerning given the research linking prenatal exposure to neonics with birth defects of the heart and brain and cognitive impairment in children. 

As a result of the EPA’s faulty analysis, there is more than 10 times the amount of neonics in our food than the law allows. This includes foods like apples, cherries, grapes, tomatoes, spinach, pears, and cauliflower, which are diet staples for pregnant people and children. This widespread exposure at unlawful levels is especially concerning for children, whose brains and nervous systems are still developing.  

In our petition, we asked the EPA to revoke all food tolerances for neonics. Today—nearly six years later—the agency has still failed to respond to NRDC’s petition. On October 29, 2025, NRDC sued the EPA for its unreasonable delay in responding to NRDC’s 2020 petition. In our lawsuit, we argue that the agency has no justifiable reason for the delay, given that it has all the data needed to make a decision. We also argue that the EPA’s delay is unacceptable because children’s health and welfare are at stake and that these risks are too great to allow the agency to stall any longer.