Amazon to Pay $1.2 Million for Marketing Illegal Pesticides in Northwest, U.S.
The EPA did not immediately supply a specific list of the pesticides, but said since 2013, some 4,000 violations of Federal pesticide sales laws had occurred.
The EPA District 10 region, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, handled the case because Amazon's headquarters are in Seattle.
The EPA claims pesticides were sold directly on the Amazon site or marketed through Amazon platforms, that violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. According to the EPA and Seattle Times, these products were not only illegal, but posed human safety hazards. They were a variety of products used to kill everything from weeds to rodents and insects.
The EPA says Amazon is in the process of removing any such potential hazards from their selling platforms. It is believed the bulk of the products were originally from foreign nations, as many countries utilize Amazon to sell their products. It's likely the pesticides were not known to be unlicensed in the U.S.