Crocs has agreed to pay $230,000 to the U.S. Environmental...

Crocs has agreed to pay $230,000 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and remove antimicrobial claims on several types of its footwear. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, which the EPA enforces, requires that any product claiming to be antimicrobial must be a registered pesticide with the EPA. One of the ingredients in Crocs' Croslite material is silver, whose properties have been known to retard the growth of bacteria; however, Croslite is not registered as a fungicide. Crocs has agreed to stop making the antimicrobial claims in its advertising as well as the notices on its packaging. Last year, the agency came to a similar settlement with The North Face over claims that its AgION technology inhibits the growth of bacteria in footwear.