[7] Carbofuran exhibits toxicity mediated by the same mechanism as that of the notorious V-series nerve agents and presents a risk to human health.

[6] Carbofuran acts through phloem sap against piercing-sucking pests such as green leafhoppers, brown plant hoppers, stem borers and whorl maggots.

[9] Usage has increased in recent years because it is one of the few insecticides effective on soybean aphids, which have expanded their range since 2002 to include most soybean-growing regions of the United States.

However, in developing countries, occupational exposure to carbofuran and resultant carbofuran-serum protein labeling has been reported to impact human health and well-being.

[30] In one study, the exposure of rats to sublethal amounts of carbofuran decreased testosterone by 88%, while the levels of progesterone, cortisol, and estradiol were significantly increased (1279%, 202%, and 150%, respectively).

[32] In December of that year, FMC Corp., the sole US manufacturer of carbofuran, announced that it had voluntarily requested that the EPA cancel all but six of the previously allowed uses of that chemical as a pesticide.

With this change, carbofuran usage in the United States would be allowed only on corn, potatoes, pumpkins, sunflowers, pine seedlings and spinach grown for seed.

[33] However, in May 2009, the EPA canceled all food tolerances, an action which amounts to a de facto ban on its use on all crops grown for human consumption.

[19] Due to nonregistration of 4 carcinogenic chemicals used on crops not listed in the Dangerous Substances Act of Thailand, vegetables with residues of methomyl, carbofuran, dicrotophos, and EPN were taken off supermarket shelves in July 2012.

[36] In 2009, the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes ran an exposé discussing the use of Furadan by Kenyan farmers as a poison to kill African lions.