July 06, 2026 | Source: Beyond Pesticides

(Beyond Pesticides, July 6, 2026) In response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June preventing lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers for their failure to display a cancer (and other chronic effects) warning on their products, two members of Congress moved quickly last week with a bill to reverse the decision. U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced the People Over Poison Act. The legislation, H.R. 9528, is intended to restore the right of consumers to hold pesticide manufacturers accountable under state law when they fail to warn about the full range of potential harm associated with their products. Beyond Pesticides has joined with other environmental, health, farm, and farmworker groups to mobilize a nationwide effort to educate on the legislation, which may be subject to clarifying amendments. The mobilization is asking Congressional Representatives to cosponsor H.R. 9528, the People Over Poison Act.

The Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling in Monsanto v. Durnell allows companies that produce toxic pesticides to evade the most basic of responsibilities—to warn consumers that their products may cause cancer and other deadly diseases. “In an age of deregulation, the ability of farmers, farmworkers, and consumers to hold chemical manufacturers accountable for hazard warnings is the keystone to minimum protection of public health, as demand in the market for the safest possible products grows daily,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides.

The ability to sue pesticide manufacturers for their failure to warn product users of the potential risks associated with their products has been identified by former EPA officials as an important right to protection. Beyond Pesticides has called the warning especially important with staff cutbacks and an overall reported reduction in science-driven safety standards at EPA.