A U.S. Senator introduced a bill Thursday that would make it a federal right for alleged victims to sue pesticide manufacturers for harms due to their “toxic” products and counteract efforts in several states to to diffuse such liabilities.

The Pesticide Injury Accountability Act, floated by Sen. Cory Book (D-N.J.), would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972 (FIFRA), “to create a federal right of action for anyone who is harmed by a toxic pesticide.”

Booker says that despite “growing peer-reviewed scientific evidence” linking widely used pesticides to a host of health issues, pesticide manufacturers in state legislatures and in Congress are seeking legal immunity for the corporations.

“If these largely foreign-owned companies are successful,” Booker said, “this liability shield would leave farmers, farmworkers and other injured individuals without meaningful recourse for the harms caused by these toxic substances,” Booker said in a statement.

There have been numerous legal cases alleging harm from pesticides that have resulted in large settlements and judgements against pesticide manufacturers, particularly against Monsanto. 

Syngenta, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned company ChemChina, reached a $187 million settlement in 2021 for paraquat-related Parkinson’s disease claims. Monsanto has paid billions of dollars to settle lawsuits linking Roundup (glyphosate) to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Settlements levied against Monsanto for “failure to warn” claims by victims have reached tens of billions of dollars. Bayer said recently if the litigious environment around glyphosate continues the company may have to stop making Roundup. 

Several states are considering laws to providing immunity to manufacturers against “failure to warn” claims that have led to most of the lawsuits, with the laws being passed in two states thus far. 

But Booker said Congress should pass his legislation to stop this and, “ensure that these chemical companies can be held accountable in federal court for the harm caused by their toxic products." 

The legislation won immediate praise from organizations who are concerned about pesticide harms, including Children’s Health Defense. Mary Holland, the group’s CEO, said CHD opposes any liability shield for any industry that has a direct impact on the health of the American people.

“Granting blanket immunity to corporations who have a fiscal responsibility to their shareholders, and not a responsibility to consumer safety, is one of the most dangerous propositions imaginable,” Holland said. 

“No one can dispute that crop pesticides are poisons. They are designed to kill weeds, but they also kill non-target plants and there is sound evidence linking them to human health problems,” said Jim Goodman, president of the National Family Farm Coalition. 

Last month, Senator Booker led a group of 20 colleagues in calling on Senate leadership to, “oppose any efforts to limit existing state and local authority to regulate pesticides in the upcoming Farm Bill or any other legislation.”

To see a full list of endorsing organizations, click here. To read the full text of the bill, click here.