Pesticides and agrochemicals
26 cases in 20 countries, 1947–2026. Most cases: United States (12), Brazil (3), United Kingdom (3), Switzerland (3), India (3).
US Supreme Court blocks state cancer-warning suits against pesticide makers
The 7–2 ruling of 25 June 2026 held that federal pesticide law stops states from requiring cancer warnings the EPA has not approved. The court did not decide whether glyphosate causes cancer.
Chlorpyrifos: exports of an EU-banned pesticide
Chlorpyrifos, an insecticide the EU no longer allows, was still notified for export from Belgium and Denmark in the second half of 2022. It was listed for global elimination under the Stockholm Convention in 2025 with 22 exempted uses.
Stockholm Convention agrees chlorpyrifos phase-out with 22 uses exempted
Parties to the Stockholm Convention agreed in May 2025 to phase out the insecticide chlorpyrifos, but its exemptions rose from 7 to 22 uses. The chemical's use on farmland affects the water and ecosystems around treated fields.
Jury awards $250 million punitive damages over dicamba drift, later overturned
A US federal jury held Monsanto and BASF liable over dicamba drift that damaged a farm and awarded $250 million in punitive damages. The punitive award was cut and then overturned, while liability was upheld. Dicamba drift damages neighbouring crops.
EU banned-pesticide exports
Exports from EU countries of pesticides banned in EU fields rose from about 81,000 tonnes in 2018 to about 122,000 tonnes in 2024, according to Public Eye, despite a 2020 Commission pledge.
Bayer buys Monsanto for $66bn; four firms hold most seed and pesticide sales
Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 for US$66 billion, and four firms now hold most global seed and pesticide sales. The cited sources do not measure what this concentration does to nature.
Costa Rica bans bromacil; Del Monte's pineapple permits face challenges
Costa Rica banned the herbicide bromacil in 2017 after residues were found in Siquirres water networks. Del Monte's pineapple company has faced a cancelled environmental permit in Osa and community objections to a planned expansion in Guácimo.
Dicamba drift (Bader Farms) and EPA re-registration
A peach grower, Bader Farms, won a jury verdict over dicamba drift from Monsanto and BASF products. Courts vacated the over-the-top dicamba registration in 2020 and 2024, and the EPA re-registered it in February 2026.
62% of UK paraquat exports since 2015 went to poorer countries, analysis finds
Switzerland banned the herbicide paraquat in 1989, while UK exports continued, and a 2022 analysis found that 62 percent of the 122,831 tonnes exported from the UK since 2015 went to poorer countries. The cited sources do not quantify the effect on wildlife, water or farm workers in importing countries.
Court reverses $60 million punitive award in dicamba case
A court reversed a $60 million punitive damage award in the Bader dicamba case while leaving liability in place. The sources describe drift damage as the harm in this litigation, and EPA has re-approved over-the-top dicamba use for 2026 and 2027.
Kenyan court removes seed-sharing offence in 2025; destruction costs fall on farmers
Kenya's seed law made sharing unregistered seed a crime until a court ruling in November 2025, and the permanence of that ruling is unclear. Farmers paid for the destruction of banned pesticides, while EU exports of banned pesticides rose.
Kerala endosulfan compensation delayed as producer's Shroff family sells stake
Endosulfan, a banned pesticide, was produced in India by a company linked to the Shroff family, and Kerala's victims were still owed compensation five years after a court order. In 2016 the family sold a 24.75% stake for about 343 crore rupees to Sumitomo.
Compensation for Kerala endosulfan victims reported delayed
Compensation for victims of the pesticide endosulfan in Kasaragod, Kerala, was reported delayed between 2011 and 2022, according to Down To Earth. The cited sources give no verified figures for victims or payments, so the scale of the harm is not established here.
Roundup litigation, settlements and legal shield (Bayer/Monsanto)
Bayer announced settlements of up to $10.9 billion (2020) and up to $7.25 billion (2026) over Roundup cancer claims. In June 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that federal pesticide law bars state-law claims that require a cancer warning on the label.
France's Constitutional Council annuls pesticide clause of Duplomb farm law
France's HRI1 pesticide-use indicator fell 32% over 2011–2021, while the dose-based NODU measure rose 3%. The EU pesticide reduction regulation was withdrawn, and in 2025 the Constitutional Council annulled the clause of the Duplomb law that brought back acetamiprid.
Sri Lanka's 2008–2011 pesticide bans were followed by a fall in pesticide suicides
Sri Lanka banned paraquat, dimethoate and fenthion between 2008 and 2011. A 2017 PLoS One study reported that pesticide suicides fell 50% between 2011 and 2015, while rice yields did not fall.
Syngenta paid $105m to settle atrazine water-treatment claims
In 2012 Syngenta agreed to pay $105m to water utilities that had to treat atrazine in drinking water, without admitting liability. Internal communications later reported in the press show a plan to discredit a university biologist whose atrazine research the company feared; at stake is independent science on a widely used herbicide.
Glyphosate safety review retracted over undisclosed Monsanto ghostwriting
A 2000 review that found the herbicide glyphosate safe was retracted in November 2025 because the authorship of Monsanto employees was not disclosed. US Right to Know, a campaign group, says the review relied only on unpublished Monsanto studies.
Paraquat bans, UK production for export and Chinese exports
Switzerland banned paraquat in 1989 and the EU withdrew its approval in 2007, while paraquat continued to be made in the United Kingdom and exported. Brazil and Thailand also moved to restrict it in 2017–2019.
Syngenta settles thousands of paraquat lawsuits and keeps selling diquat
Paraquat, sued over claims it causes Parkinson's disease, is still produced and exported from countries that ban it at home, and its maker has moved to diquat as a substitute. The New Lede reported more than 8,000 lawsuits in 2026, and Syngenta settled without admitting liability.
Chlordecone in the French Antilles
Chlordecone, an insecticide used on banana plantations, left lasting pollution in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal found the French State at fault in March 2025, while the criminal case ended in a dismissal (non-lieu) in January 2023 that the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed in June 2026.
US bans DDT in 1972; bald eagle breeding pairs rebound
The EPA banned DDT in 1972, and the bald eagle was removed from the protected list in 2007. Breeding pairs in 48 states rose from 417 in 1963 to 71,467 in the 2018-2019 counts, while lead poisoning still affected about 46 percent of eagles tested.
Monsanto/Bayer PCB and Roundup insurance suit v AIG
In December 2025 Bayer sued the insurer AIG in St. Louis County, Missouri, over cover for more than $1.9 billion of PCB settlements and more than $10 billion of Roundup settlements. AIG's grounds for refusing are not public and the case was pending.
Paraquat litigation (Syngenta/Chevron) and the Paraquat Papers
Plaintiffs in the United States allege that the weed killer paraquat causes Parkinson's disease. Internal company documents released through litigation and published in 2022 and 2023 recorded decades of company findings on paraquat and the brain and efforts to influence science and regulators. By July 2026 more than 8,000 federal cases were pending and none had gone before a jury; Syngenta had settled without admitting liability and announced it would end Gramoxone sales.
Montrose DDT insurance case
Montrose Chemical, a DDT producer, sued its liability insurers in California over cover for the contamination its operations caused. The state Supreme Court ruled against the insurers in 1995 and again in 2020, and the industry then added a clause to exclude damage known before a policy.
Kasaragod endosulfan victims still awaiting compensation after court order
Victims of endosulfan spraying in Kasaragod, Kerala, were still waiting for compensation years after a court order, and the state rather than the producer is paying. The producer's owning family sold its stake to Sumitomo in 2016.