EPA Adds More Pesticide Industry Reps to Science Board
civileats.com
While most appointees are academic scientists, Administrator Lee Zeldin also named employees of a company that makes forever chemicals.

April 20, 2026 – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin appointed four chemical industry representatives to the agency’s Science Advisory Board last week, including employees of pesticide companies and of a leading manufacturer of the forever chemicals that now contaminate U.S. farm soils, waterways, and food.

Members of the Science Advisory Board provide scientific advice to EPA leadership. For example, at a fall 2024 meeting, they shared feedback on an EPA draft toxicological review of arsenic and commented on the agency’s proposed approach to evaluating risks of exposure to multiple chemicals at once.

One of the new appointees, Jessica LaRocca, works for pesticide giant Corteva Agriscience, and another, Matthew LeBaron, for Dow Chemical Company, which spun off its pesticide business but still produces chemicals used in pesticide formulations. Two others, Shawn Gannon and Sean Uhl, work for Chemours, which makes products with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Zeldin also appointed Gary Minsavage, a representative from ExxonMobil’s biomedical division.

Most of the other 37 appointees are scientists affiliated with academic institutions, but the handful of industry representatives is a marked increase compared to the board’s previous roster. Under President Joe Biden, EPA Administrator Michael Regan appointed 48 members. Only one—an employee of pesticide and seed giant Bayer—represented the chemical industry.

“Reconstituting the Science Advisory Board will provide rigorous, independent, evidence-based, scientific advice consistent with its legal obligations to advance our core mission of protecting human health and the environment,” Zeldin said in a press release.

However, when the agency first dismissed the board’s previous members last year,  environmental groups accused the EPA of purging independent scientists and called it “a dangerous step toward sidelining science in favor of political agendas.”

The announcement of the new board members comes amid the EPA’s fast approvals of pesticides containing PFAS and the White House’s promotion of glyphosate, which have tested the loyalty of some of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters. (Link to this post.)

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