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American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiary AMVAC Chemical Corporation, is an American producer of agrochemicals and pesticide delivery systems. The company was cofounded by Glenn Wintemute, who stepped down as president in 1994. His son, Eric Wintemute, became chairman and chief executive officer in 1994. [1]
American Vanguard trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "AVD." [2]
The company operates factories in Los Angeles and Axis, Alabama. [3] [4]
Products have included dichlorvos (DDVP), [5] metam sodium, mevinphos, pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) and terbufos.
In 1991, over 19,000 gallons of metam sodium manufactured by Amvac Chemical Corporation spilled from a train derailment into Shasta Lake. [6] AMVAC settled resulting lawsuits for $2 million while Southern Pacific Transportation Company paid $30 million in settlements. [7]
In 2001, AMVAC began producing the herbicide DCPA (Dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, trade name Dacthal) for the American market. [8]
In 2007, Amvac paid $300,000 in a pre-trial settlement with six workers who were exposed to dibromochloropropane (DBCP) on a Dole Food Company-operated banana plantation in the 1970s. [9]
In 2017, the company acquired the US rights to abamectin, Chlorothalonil, and paraquat from ADAMA Agricultural Solutions. [10]
In 2018, the company acquired the US and Canada Bromacil business from Bayer Crop Science. [11]
In August 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency order to immediately remove DCPA from the market. [12]
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others. The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all pesticide use globally. Most pesticides are used as plant protection products, which in general protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species.
Daminozide, also known as aminozide, Alar, Kylar, SADH, B-995, B-nine, and DMASA, is a plant growth regulator. It was produced in the U.S. by the Uniroyal Chemical Company, Inc,, which registered daminozide for use on fruits intended for human consumption in 1963. In addition to apples and ornamental plants, they also registered it for use on cherries, peaches, pears, Concord grapes, tomato transplants, and peanut vines. Alar was first approved for use in the U.S. in 1963. It was primarily used on apples until 1989, when the manufacturer voluntarily withdrew it after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed banning it based on concerns about cancer risks to consumers.
Dicofol is an insecticide, an organochlorine that is chemically related to DDT. Dicofol is a miticide that is very effective against spider mite. Its production and use is banned internationally under the Stockholm Convention.
Chlorpyrifos (CPS), also known as chlorpyrifos ethyl, is an organophosphate pesticide that has been used on crops, animals, and buildings, and in other settings, to kill several pests, including insects and worms. It acts on the nervous systems of insects by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. Chlorpyrifos was patented in 1966 by Dow Chemical Company.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is a United States law, passed by the 94th United States Congress in 1976 and administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that regulates chemicals not regulated by other U.S. federal statutes, including chemicals already in commerce and the introduction of new chemicals. When the TSCA was put into place, all existing chemicals were considered to be safe for use and subsequently grandfathered in. Its three main objectives are to assess and regulate new commercial chemicals before they enter the market, to regulate chemicals already existing in 1976 that posed an "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment", as for example PCBs, lead, mercury and radon, and to regulate these chemicals' distribution and use.
An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of agricultural chemical, is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides and synthetic fertilizers. It may also include hormones and other chemical growth agents.
Chloropicrin, also known as PS and nitrochloroform, is a chemical compound currently used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, and nematicide. It was used as a poison gas in World War I and allegedly during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Its chemical structural formula is Cl3C−NO2.
Syngenta is a global agricultural technology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It primarily covers crop protection and seeds for farmers. Syngenta is part of the Syngenta Group, entirely owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvement in WWII, the company received a contract to design and build amphibious tracked landing vehicles for the United States Department of War, and afterwards the company continued to diversify its products. FMC employs 7,000 people worldwide, and had gross revenues of US$4.7 billion in 2018.
1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (dibromochloropropane), better known as DBCP, is the organic compound with the formula BrCH(CH2Br)(CH2Cl). It is a dense colorless liquid although commercial samples often appear amber or even brown. It is the active ingredient in the nematicide Nemagon, also known as Fumazone.
2,6-Dichlorobenzonitrile (DCBN or dichlobenil) is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H3Cl2CN. It is a white solid that is soluble in organic solvents. It is widely used as a herbicide and organic chemistry building block.
Marukai Corporation U.S.A. is an American offshoot chain of retail markets that imports and sells Japanese goods in American cities started by the Osaka, Japan-based Marukai Corporation (Japan). Unlike other Japanese supermarkets, which may carry non-Japanese products based on local diversity, Marukai has Hawaiian products as a core focus in addition to Japanese in all its stores. Its headquarters are in Gardena, California, in Greater Los Angeles.
Clothianidin is an insecticide developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer AG. Similar to thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, it is a neonicotinoid. Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides that are chemically similar to nicotine, which has been used as a pesticide since the late 1700s. Clothianidin and other neonicotinoids act on the central nervous system of insects as an agonist of nAChR, the same receptor as acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates and activating post-synaptic acetylcholine receptors but not inhibiting AChE. Clothianidin and other neonicotinoids were developed to last longer than nicotine, which is more toxic and which breaks down too quickly in the environment.
Metam sodium is an organosulfur compound with the formula CH3NHCS2Na. The compound is a sodium salt of a dithiocarbamate. The compound exists as a colorless dihydrate, but most commonly it is encountered as an aqueous solution. It is used as a soil fumigant, pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide. It is one of the most widely used pesticides in the United States, with approximately 60 million pounds used in 2001.
The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, codified at 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1872, is the main federal law that protects farm workers in the United States and repealed and replaced the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act.
Thiamethoxam is the ISO common name for a mixture of cis-trans isomers used as a systemic insecticide of the neonicotinoid class. It has a broad spectrum of activity against many types of insects and can be used as a seed dressing.
Pesticide regulation in the United States is primarily a responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In America, it was not till the 1950s that pesticides were regulated in terms of their safety. The Pesticides Control Amendment (PCA) of 1954 was the first time Congress passed guidance regarding the establishment of safe limits for pesticide residues on food. It authorized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban pesticides they determined to be unsafe if they were sprayed directly on food. The Food Additives Amendment, which included the Delaney Clause, prohibited the pesticide residues from any carcinogenic pesticides in processed food. In 1959, pesticides were required to be registered.
Dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA, with the main trade name Dacthal) is an organic compound with the formula C6Cl4(CO2CH3)2. It is the dimethyl ester of tetrachloroterephthalic acid, used as a preemergent herbicide with the ISO common name chlorthal-dimethyl. It kills annual grasses and many common weeds without killing sensitive plants such as turf grasses, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and cotton.
Terbufos is a chemical compound used in insecticides and nematicides. It is part of the chemical family of organophosphates. It is a clear, colourless to pale yellow or reddish-brown liquid and sold commercially as granulate.
Bifenox is the ISO common name for an organic compound used as an herbicide. It acts by inhibiting the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase which is necessary for chlorophyll synthesis.