Ingredient Index

Is Paraquat banned in Europe?

Banned in EU

Yes: an EU court annulled paraquat's authorization in 2007, partly because the Parkinson's literature was never assessed. The US still permits it for certified applicators, and thousands of Parkinson's lawsuits are consolidated in federal court.

CAS: 1910-42-5 Also seen as: Paraquat dichloride, Gramoxone, Methyl viologen

What the EU does

Banned by court order, which is rare. The European Commission had briefly authorized paraquat in 2003; Sweden sued, and in July 2007 the EU's Court of First Instance annulled the authorization, finding the review had never properly assessed the published literature linking paraquat to Parkinson's disease and that measured operator exposure exceeded acceptable levels. It has been unapproved in the EU ever since.

The aftershock arrived two decades later: Syngenta announced in March 2026 that it will cease paraquat production entirely by the end of June 2026, at its Huddersfield plant in England, the drug's only factory, in a country where using it has been illegal for about 19 years. Europe spent those years manufacturing for export a herbicide its own farmers could not spray.

Citation Case T-229/04, Sweden v Commission (CFI, 11 July 2007); Commission Decision 2007/629/EC; Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 (not approved)

What the US does

Legal, but the most restricted herbicide in the book. Paraquat is a federal restricted-use pesticide: only certified applicators may buy or spray it, with closed-system packaging, mandatory training, drift buffers, and a 48-hour re-entry interval imposed by the EPA's 2021 interim decision. Its acute toxicity is notorious; a single swallow is frequently fatal and there is no antidote.

The chronic question is in the courts and back at the agency. More than 6,000 lawsuits alleging paraquat caused Parkinson's disease are consolidated in a federal MDL, with a confidential settlement in principle reached in 2025, and the EPA, which said in 2021 it found no clear causal link at labeled uses, has since moved to rework that review and demanded new inhalation data. Usage, meanwhile, roughly doubled in the 2010s as weeds grew resistant to glyphosate.

Citation EPA paraquat dichloride registration review (2021 interim decision, reopened); MDL No. 3004 (S.D. Ill.); USGS pesticide use estimates

Products that commonly contain it

Paraquat is not consumer-facing in the US; exposure is occupational and environmental:

Used on soybeans, cotton, corn, orchards, and vineyards as a burndown herbicide and desiccant
Farmworkers and applicators carry nearly all the direct risk
Rural drift and residue exposure near treated fields
Zero legal use in the EU or UK since 2007

What to look for on a label

There is nothing to spot on a food label; the relevant flags are:

If you or family sprayed Gramoxone occupationally, the Parkinson's litigation criteria are worth knowing
USDA Organic prohibits paraquat
Home gardeners cannot legally buy it in the US; anything sold to you as such is misbranded

Or skip the squinting: paste the whole ingredient list into our checker and it flags everything in our database. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Is paraquat banned in Europe?

Yes, since 2007, when the EU court annulled its authorization for failing to assess the Parkinson's literature and for operator overexposure. It remains unapproved.

Does paraquat cause Parkinson's disease?

Multiple epidemiological studies associate occupational exposure with elevated Parkinson's risk; the EPA's contested 2021 review did not find a clear causal link at labeled uses and is being reworked. Thousands of US lawsuits, now under a confidential settlement in principle, turn on exactly this question.

Can American consumers buy paraquat?

No. It is restricted to certified applicators, with some of the tightest handling rules the EPA imposes, because one sip is routinely lethal and no antidote exists.

Related ingredients

Primary sources

Last reviewed July 13, 2026 · How we assign statuses