US EPA issued 19 pesticide re-assessments in fiscal '00

17 October 2000 19:42  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued 19 re-assessment and re-registration decisions on pesticides in fiscal 2000, including 14 decisions on organophosphate insecticides, CNI learned Tuesday.

EPA's regulatory decisions in the fiscal year that ended 30 September included 121 re-assessments of tolerances, or pesticide residue limits on food. The agency has now completed 3551 out of the 9721 tolerances it is required to re-examine under the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996.

EPA made re-registration eligibility decisions for six pesticides first registered before November 1984 - diclofop-methyl, ethyl parathion, temephos, terrazole, triallate and vinclozolin.

The agency also made seven interim re-registration eligibility decisions for pesticides that may later be subject to cumulative risk assessments - the organophosphates bensulide, fenthion, phorate, profenofos, propetamphos and tribufos, as well as the carbamate oxamyl.

In addition, EPA made tolerance re-assessment decisions for six pesticides that are not in re-registration but will undergo cumulative risk assessment - cadusafos, chlorethoxyfos, coumaphos, fenitrothion, mevinphos and phostebupirim.

So far, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs has completed 15 of 39 individual organophosphate reviews and 20 others are in the risk management phase. Revised risk assessments for malathion and diazanon are scheduled to issued in mid-November.

The agency has 177 more re-registration eligibility decisions to issue, with 204 completed, and 231 re-registration cases cancelled in earlier years, the document said.

EPA also registered 22 new active pesticide ingredients during the past fiscal year, including two antimicrobials, nine biopesticides and 11 synthetic chemicals.

The agency registered 234 new uses of conventional pesticides, 121 new uses of biopesticides and five new uses of antimicrobials.

Of the 40 new conventional chemicals with pending registration requests, five have been designated as organophosphate alternatives by EPA.

The agency expects to make decisions on most of these pesticides in the next 18 months, according to the document.

By: Glenn Hess
+1 713 525 2653

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