Missouri farm groups attack bill to ban weedkiller linked to Parkinson’s disease

The state’s top agribusiness groups torched a proposal to ban the weedkiller paraquat during a Missouri House hearing Wednesday afternoon.

House Bill 2844, sponsored by State Rep. Sherri Gallick (R-Belton), would mandate that beginning January 1, 2027, anyone who uses, distributes or sells paraquat would pay a $250 fine for the first violation, and a $500 fine for any subsequent violations, according to a House summary.

Gallick’s measure is part of a nationwide effort to ban paraquat across individual states coordinated by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the nation’s leading group seeking a cure for Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating neurodegenerative motor disease that afflicts more than 1 million Americans, with 90,000 newly diagnosed cases reported each year.

Besides Missouri, lawmakers in 11 other states, including Illinois, Utah, and Iowa, are considering bans or restrictions on paraquat use.

Grant Niver, a foundation representative, testified before the House General Laws Committee Wednesday that while Parkinson’s has genetic components, “environmental exposures play a significant role in disease risk. And among those environmental factors, the science linking the use of paraquat to a significantly increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease is some of the most concerning and well-established.”

Niver pointed out that research has “shown that individuals who handled paraquat were more than twice as likely to develop the disease compared to those using other pesticides. This is not an abstract risk—it affects farmers, farm workers and families in rural communities across Missouri.”

Farm group representatives responded to Niver’s testimony with a barrage of arguments against HB 2844, calling it unwise, premature, and not guided by science.

Mark Feigenbaum of the Missouri Farm Bureau told the committee that the federal government, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has already set up a regulatory framework to remove dangerous products. HB 2844 “sets a dangerous precedent to be banning tools that producers need state by state,” Feigenbaum said.

The U.S. EPA in January began an intensive review of paraquat’s safety, but continues to maintain there is no causal link between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease and other major illnesses.

Syngenta, the Swiss-based agrochemical giant and the world’s biggest maker of paraquat, has also long held that no scientifically proven link exists between the herbicide and Parkinson’s disease. 

Syngenta last week announced it would stop making paraquat, which Syngenta sells under the name Gramoxone, by the end of June, citing competitive pressures from makers of generic rivals.

Alayna Forck, a representative of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, predicted that if this “bill is allowed to go forward, it could jeopardize all EPA-approved pesticides that Missouri farmers rely upon.”

In his testimony, Niver noted that while paraquat continues to be used in the U.S., it is banned in more than 70 countries, including the entire European Union and Brazil.

“Many of these countries, such as China, manufacture paraquat and export it to the United States—all while banning its use in their own backyard,” Niver said.

Brent Hemphill, a lobbyist for the Missouri Pork Association, said he found Niver’s arguments unpersuasive.

“We believe that science should drive things to the market, not innuendos or possibilities,” Hemphill told the panel. “Everything that you can imagine can cause harm to one, even drinking too much water. We believe the science should be the driver of this, so we are opposed to this bill.”

Niver ended his testimony by noting that Missouri is home to 21,000 people with Parkinson’s disease, and the cost for treating them adds up to more than $1 billion per year.

 “With this legislation, Missouri has the opportunity to lead the nation and join much of the world by becoming the first state to prohibit the use and sale of paraquat,” Niver said. “The scientific evidence is strong, the risks are well documented, and the human cost of inaction continues to grow.”

The General Laws Committee is expected to vote on whether to advance HB 2844 some time in the next two weeks.