Check US agricultural use status for acephate, carbendazim, profenofos and chlorpyrifos

Acephate use in agriculture: current status and registration checks

EPA proposed in April 2024 to cancel all acephate uses but one. That was a proposed interim decision, not a final cancellation order. EPA's updated human health and drinking water assessments, released in 2023, showed significant dietary risks from drinking water for the registered uses. EPA also identified worker, homeowner and ecological risks that the proposed cancellations would mitigate.

Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0915 holds the acephate review

Acephate is proceeding through EPA's standard registration review process. The revised human health draft risk assessment and drinking water assessment (August 2023) and the April 2024 proposed interim decision were opened for a 60-day public comment period in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0915 on regulations.gov. EPA will respond to the comments in the Interim Decision.

When you look for the decision that applies to the product on your shelf, search the docket by the product's registration number as well as by the ingredient name, and note whether each document you open is a proposal, an assessment, a comment or a final action.

How acephate works and what it is registered for

Acephate is an organophosphate that inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. This nervous-system mechanism can also occur in mammals, including humans, depending on the level of exposure. It is registered for agricultural uses such as cotton and soybean and for non-agricultural uses such as tree injections for forestry and ant mound treatment around homes.

The one use EPA proposed to keep is tree injection, because it does not contribute to drinking water exposure, poses no risks for workers and, with label changes, would not pose risks to the environment. It is allowed only on trees that do not produce food for human consumption. Acephate is one of 18 organophosphates in registration review, with many interim decisions scheduled between 2024 and 2026.

Proposed, interim and final decisions in registration review

EPA publishes a Federal Register notice for each proposed registration review decision, interim or final, with a public comment period of at least 60 days. EPA may issue an interim decision before completing a registration review; it may, among other things, determine whether new or interim risk mitigation measures are necessary. A final decision concludes the review once all portions of the assessment are complete.

Before relying on any document, check which of the three it is.

Where EPA lists the commercial formulations

APPRIL is a searchable database of active and cancelled pesticide products (Section 3 and distributor products) with a link to PPLS. For each product it shows the status (Active, Cancelled), the company, the use patterns, the sites the product is registered to be applied to and the pests it is registered to treat.

PPLS searches by product or active alternative brand name, chemical name, company name, or EPA registration, distributor product or Special Local Need number. The registration number is usually found on the back panel of the label.

Search for the record of the actual material in your hands, not only the ingredient name: an ingredient search mixes active and cancelled products from many companies.

Carbendazim use in agriculture: what it is registered for

EPA-registered fungicide: carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl

Carbendazim (MBC) has one conventional use, tree injection. It is also an industrial biocide used as a fungicide for materials preservation. Thiophanate-methyl (TM) is the fungicide with the food-crop uses, and it degrades rapidly to MBC, which is more stable and persistent. MBC is also a metabolite in the thiophanate-methyl risk assessment.

When you check a product, keep the two names apart: look up carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl separately, because their uses are different.

The 2002 assessment is a risk assessment, not a label

The April 25, 2002 EPA assessment is a human health risk assessment of thiophanate-methyl that includes carbendazim as its metabolite.

The 2025 decision by ingredient

TM is registered for fruit crops (pome, stone, citrus, grapes, strawberries), nut crops (almonds, pecans, pistachios), vegetables (cucurbits, potatoes, dried and succulent beans, and onions), soybeans, peanuts, canola, crambe, garlic, ginseng, coffee, sugar beet, wheat and triticale. Its seed treatment uses include dried and succulent beans, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, spinach, triticale and wheat.

MBC industrial uses include preservation of coatings, paints, adhesives, sealants, textiles and plastics.

Note the product's registration number and the sites its label lists before you consider any agricultural use of it.

What the January 2025 interim decisions require

EPA released the interim decisions for chlorothalonil, TM and MBC on January 8, 2025; the TM and MBC decision is in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0004. To reduce dietary risk from water, EPA is restricting soil applications and reducing application rates of TM. Additional PPE is needed for some scenarios for mixers, loaders and applicators of TM.

Before assigning mixing, loading or spraying, get the updated label for the product and read the PPE and soil-application terms on it.

For TM and conventional MBC, EPA is updating label language on pollinator stewardship, ecological incident reporting and endangered species protection. For antimicrobial MBC, the use in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) applications will be removed from pesticide labeling to mitigate residential post-application risks to children 1 to 2 years old.

Chemical Search holds the regulatory history

Entering the active ingredient's name or CAS number in EPA's Chemical Search returns regulatory actions, science reviews, evaluation schedules, public comment opportunities and access to public dockets.

Use it to trace the review history, and keep each document's date visible when you compare conclusions from different stages.

Profenofos use in agriculture: cancelled registration

U.S. profenofos registration was cancelled in 2018. In the March 2026 drinking-water determination, EPA recorded no active labels in the Pesticide Product and Label System.

What profenofos was used for

Profenofos is an organophosphate pesticide applied as an insecticide. Cotton is the sole crop to which it was applied in the years before cancellation; USGS records show usage diminished since the mid-1990s and ceased around 2011.

What the March 2026 notice decides

On March 19, 2026 EPA made final Safe Drinking Water Act determinations not to regulate nine contaminants, profenofos among them. These determinations impose no requirements on anyone.

Chlorpyrifos agricultural uses: crops, states and amended products

Chlorpyrifos may be used on 11 crops only. As of July 1, 2025, no one in the U.S. is allowed to legally use chlorpyrifos on any crops other than those 11. Tolerances were reinstated on December 28, 2023, but final cancellation orders, including terms for existing stocks and related return programs for chlorpyrifos products, remain in place unless and until amended by EPA.

What chlorpyrifos is and what it controls

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide, acaricide and miticide used primarily to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests. It has been used since 1965 in both agricultural and non-agricultural areas.

Chlorpyrifos used on what crops: the current crop and state list

The 11 uses are alfalfa, apple, asparagus, tart cherry, citrus, cotton, peach, soybean, strawberry, sugar beet and wheat (spring and winter). They are limited to the specific states assessed in the 2020 proposed interim decision (PID). The PID and the updated drinking water assessment assessed risk assuming certain geographic, application-rate and maximum-number-of-applications-per-year restrictions.

States where each of the 11 uses is allowed

• Alfalfa: AZ, CO, IA, ID, IL, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY.
• Apple: AL, DC, DE, GA, ID, IN, KY, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, VT, WA, WV.
• Asparagus: MI.
• Tart cherry: MI.
• Citrus: AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TX.
• Cotton: AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, VA.
• Peach: AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TX, VA, VT, WV.
• Soybean: AL, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV, WY.
• Strawberry: OR.
• Sugar beet: IA, ID, IL, MI, MN, ND, OR, WA, WI.
• Wheat (spring): CO, KS, MO, MT, ND, NE, SD, WY.
• Wheat (winter): CO, IA, KS.

Several states ban or restrict chlorpyrifos further

Several states have prohibited or placed additional restrictions on the use of chlorpyrifos, including California, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New York and Oregon. If you have a question about chlorpyrifos use, check with your state; the state-agency directory guide lists the regulators.

A state shown in the federal crop table may still have its own restriction. Take the product's registration number, the crop, the county and the planned timing of application to the state authority, and keep its written answer.

Cancelled cannot return without a new registration

Registrants that want to make cancelled uses or registrations available again must submit new registration applications through EPA's Registration Division. EPA may propose additional mitigation measures in the future as chlorpyrifos is undergoing registration review.

Which products are amended, cancelled or still labeled for food

Several registered chlorpyrifos products have been cancelled or amended to terminate food uses. Amended products that may not be used on food crops include Akofos 48 EC (85724-10, AAKO B.V.), Chlorpyrifos 4E AG (66222-19) and Vulcan (66222-233) from ADAMA, and Chlorpyrifos 61.5% MUP (81964-21, Chemstarr). Cancelled products include Duration PT 275 MC (BASF, 499-419), Equil Pyrifos (Central Garden & Pet, 89459-69), CSI Chlorpyrifos CS (Control Solutions, 53883-264) and Lorsban 15G (Corteva, 62719-34).

Drexel 19713-505, 19713-520, 19713-521, 19713-599 and 19713-671, and Gharda's Pilot 4E (93182-7), may be used on specific food uses only in accordance with updated labeling. They were required to have that labeling by June 30, 2025, and use under previously approved labeling is no longer permitted. EPA issued a correction amendment for 93182-7 on June 16, 2025.

To find your product, copy the full EPA registration number from the container and look for that exact number in the lists above; the trade name and the company are only a second check, since one company can hold several registrations with different dates. Then compare the current label in PPLS with the label attached to your container, and read any cancellation or transition terms. A newer PDF in the database is a reason to investigate, not proof that every older package carries the same directions.

Court decision and label amendments in date order

In August 2021 EPA issued a final rule revoking all chlorpyrifos tolerances. On November 2, 2023, the Eighth Circuit vacated that rule and remanded it to EPA. The mandate issued on December 28, 2023, reinstating all chlorpyrifos tolerances, and on February 5, 2024 EPA published a Federal Register technical correction to reflect it. Those events concern food-residue tolerances.

Since 2022, registrants requested voluntary cancellation of food and feed uses except for the 11 crops. On September 30, 2024, EPA approved amended labels reflecting those cancellations and the geographic restrictions and application limitations from the 2020 PID and 2020 Drinking Water Assessment.

Existing stocks after a voluntary cancellation

A registrant can cancel a pesticide product or a use at any time under Section 6(f) of FIFRA by sending EPA a letter. EPA then publishes a Federal Register notice with a comment period of at least 30 days. At its end, unless there are substantive comments or the registrant rescinds the request, EPA publishes the final cancellation order and approves the revised label for products with retained uses.

Further sale and distribution of the product or label after the effective date of cancellation must follow the existing-stocks provisions in Section IV, Cancellation Order, of the cancellation notice.

For a store or farm stock review, photograph each container's brand, registration number, package size and directions. List unopened and partly used containers separately and match each registration to its own cancellation or amendment action. Then give your supplier or regulator the quantities and what you plan to do with them (sale, return, disposal or use), and ask whether a return program applies to that exact product. Keep the written reply with the stock until it is resolved.

Next step

EPA's label system searches by EPA registration number, and the state-agency directory lists the state regulators.