Reporter's Notebook

A behind-the-scenes look at the recent Dursban decision.

Dursban in the News

The day after the EPA press conference announc-ing its restrictions on Dursban, hundreds of articles appeared in newspapers across the United States, including a front-page headline in The Orlando Sentinel that screamed, "Dursban bites dust."

The week following the announcement, U.S. News & World Report also ran a cover story titled, "Kids at Risk: New evidence points to a link between environmental poisons and learning disabilities." The eight-page article featured a section on pesticides that read in part, "The EPA found that Dursban could damage the brain. It also determined that children could receive up to 100 times the safe dose in some cases."

What did Dow Agro-Sciences think of the press coverage? "The media coverage was fairly typical and short-lived, and predominately of a nature that one might expect especially in light of Ms. Browner’s appearance on the morning talk shows and her subsequent press conference," said Tim Maniscalo, manager of Government and Public Affairs, Urban Pest Management, Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, Ind.

"Her personal characterization of EPA banning Dursban was, of course, highlighted by the media which was not reflective of our agreement or comments made by the Agency in the published risk assessment that followed," he said. "Some media reports were actually somewhat balanced with accurate statements about Dursban and its safety and use profile."

The Other Players

Although Dow AgroSciences received most of the press about EPA’s decisions regarding Dursban, there are six manufacturers of chlorpyrifos worldwide. Those registrants are:

Cheminova

Luxembourg-Pamol

Dow AgroSciences

Mahketshim-Agan

Gharda

Platte Chemical

 

ASPCRO Left Out of the Loop

The Association of State Pest Control Regulatory Officials (ASPCRO) prides itself on being a liaison between the pest control industry and government officials on the local, state and federal levels. So when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Dow AgroSciences reached an agreement to phase out uses of Dursban, members of ASPCRO were left scratching their heads as to why they were not brought into the decision-making process.

Particularly troubling for ASPCRO was that they were not consulted before a decision was agreed upon to lower the label-use rate on Dursban termiticides to a maximum concentrate level that will be no more than 0.5 percent. In so doing, EPA did not abide by Section IX of its own PR Notice 96-7, which states: "EPA requests that registrants submit a copy of the proposed label and the relevant efficacy data for any new termiticide product or for any significant amendment to a currently registered termiticide product, such as a change in concentration or method of application, to ASPCRO at the same time the application is submitted to the Agency. This will allow ASPCRO the opportunity to review the pertinent portions of the proposed registration or amendment and communicate any concerns or questions they have regarding the proposed registration or amendment to the Agency and the registrant in the early stages of the registration process and to provide sufficient time for resolving any issues prior to a registration decision."

"What the Agency has done in this action is to require a label that under its own PR Notice (PR 96-7) would not be permitted," said former ASPCRO President Carl Falco. "This action is at cross purposes with what we have been trying to do the last 10+ years."

ASPCRO President Jim Haskins said the real losers are America’s homeowners.

"We are extremely disappointed and concerned," Haskins said. "We consider ourselves a consumer protection organization and it is not protecting a consumer when you lower the rate from .75 to .5 percent. A homeowner may think he is getting five years control, but in reality we have the data that supports that he is only getting three years control. It gives the homeowner false security."

Haskins says the state of Mississippi will not allow termiticides to be applied at .5 percent and expects other states to follow Mississippi’s lead.

 

 

July 2000
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