--- title: Weed Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering approval of a new herbicide that could pose health risks to school children, says the Environmental Working Group canonical: https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-02T14:53:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:56:37.737Z article:section: Health og:title: Potentially Toxic New Weed Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group og:description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering approval of a new herbicide that could pose health risks to school children, says the Environmental Working Group og:url: https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Potentially Toxic New Weed Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group twitter:description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering approval of a new herbicide that could pose health risks to school children, says the Environmental Working Group twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Potent New Weed-Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=756ceac5-c731-430d-9d27-79732c6849cc&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 2, 2014 2:53 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 2, 2014 2:53 PM UTC The EPA is open to public comments until June 30 about approving Enlist Duo, a new combination of 2,4-D and glyphosate, which is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular RoundUp weed killer. A majority of soybean and corn crops are now resistant to glyphosate alone, which is why Dow AgroSciences created the new formulation, designed to work on [genetically modified seeds](http://www.enlist.com/) the company has developed that are supposed to be more resistant to weed growth. But in a new [analysis](http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2014/06/thousands-schools-would-be-close-toxic-spray-zones), EWG says more than 5,000 schools are located within 200 feet of fields that could potentially be sprayed with the chemical, if it’s approved. According to the environmental advocacy group, the compounds in Enlist Duo have been [linked to harmful health effects](http://www.ewg.org/24D/human-health-24D), including immune and reproductive issues as well as certain cancers and Parkinson’s disease. EWG says the [EPA analysis](http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/2-4-d-glyphosate.html) of the herbicide doesn’t sufficiently consider the potential health harms, especially if inhaled, which would be the primary way people would be exposed to it. The [agency](http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/2-4-d-glyphosate.html), for its part, says it “confirmed the safety of the use for the public, agricultural workers and non-target species.” In its analysis, EWG found that Michigan contains the highest number of schools—658—located within 200 feet of corn and soybean crops that could be sprayed with Enlist Duo, followed by Missouri, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. For an interactive map of schools within 1000 feet of such fields, click [here](https://api.tiles.mapbox.com/v3/ewg.iign8e8o/page.html#5/39.977/-102.898). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/"},"headline":"Potent New Weed-Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group","datePublished":"2014-07-02T14:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:56:37.737Z","description":"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering approval of a new herbicide that could pose health risks to school children, says the Environmental Working Group","url":"https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/","keywords":["Environmental Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environmental-health/","name":"Environmental Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2950198/enlist-duo-herbicide-toxic/","name":"Potent New Weed-Killer Could Be Sprayed Near Schools, Says Environmental Group"}}]}] ```