PANUPS Alert: Tell EPA That Toxic Fumigants Must Go

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Thu, 11 Aug 2005 22:29:44 GMT

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PANUPS Alert: Tell EPA That Toxic Fumigants Must Go

 

 

Pesticide Action Network North America

 

 

PANUPS Alert: Tell EPA That Toxic Fumigants Must Go

August 11, 2005

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public

comments in their review of several soil fumigant pesticides that are

especially problematic for workers and nearby communities. Soil

fumigants are gaseous pesticides that are applied in large quantities

before planting (50-400 pounds per acre) using outmoded technology

developed in the 1920s that destroys all living organisms in the soil.

More than 90% of these pesticides escape from the soil and drift off

site, with high concentrations found in air more than a mile away from

the application site in many cases. Among the most toxic chemicals

used for pest control, fumigant use has resulted in many poisonings,

and is linked to cancers, birth defects and sterility. This class of

pesticides continues to be responsible for major acute poisoning

incidents in communities in California's Central Valley, and is a

significant contributor to the region's poor air quality, which is

among the worst in the nation.

 

In July, U.S. EPA released the preliminary risk assessment documents

for four fumigants-methyl bromide, metam sodium, dazomet, and

1,3-dichloropropene (Telone)-and will release an assessment for

chloropicrin in mid-August. EPA has chosen to evaluate all of these

pesticides as a group, in a Fumigant Cluster Assessment process, to

" ensure that its assessment approaches are consistent, and its risk

management decisions fully consider the risks and benefits of each

chemical on an equal footing. " The agency is also considering a new

fumigant, methyl iodide, an extremely dangerous carcinogen, as a

replacement for methyl bromide.

 

Fumigants are applied by injection into the soil, by sprinkler

application or via drip tape. After application, fields may be covered

with a plastic tarp or a layer of water to " water in " the fumigant and

slow its release from the field. Neither of these measures effectively

prevents fumigant drift, which is most likely to occur in the first

three to four days after application, but remains a risk for several

weeks.

 

Workers applying the chemicals are most vulnerable to exposure, but

drift-prone soil fumigants also present special concerns for workers

in adjacent fields and people who live, work and go to school near the

application site. Just midway through the assessment process, EPA has

already acknowledged that near-field concentrations of legally applied

metam sodium, the pesticide responsible for multiple acute poisonings

in California, are substantially higher than " acceptable " levels.

 

In 2002 PAN North America compared California Air Resources Board

monitoring results for the fumigants methyl bromide, metam sodium and

1,3-dichloropropene with concentrations deemed " acceptable " by the

California Department of Pesticide Regulation and found that even when

correctly applied, fumigants typically drifted off site in

concentrations substantially exceeding " acceptable " exposure levels

for both short-term and seasonal exposures for many Central Valley

residents.

 

To fully protect the health of workers and nearby communities, EPA

needs to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide

incentives for farmers to move away from this outdated technology and

should put all of these chemicals on a phase-out schedule. Until then,

substantial restrictions on their use, such as expanding protection

zones around application sites, limiting the area treated during a

specific time period, reducing application rates, modifying

application techniques, and/or capping the total amounts used in a

particular geographic area over a specific time period are important

restrictions that should be implemented as soon as possible.

 

Public comments will be accepted until September 12, 2005. To take

action, visit http://ga4.org/campaign/toxicFumigants

 

For more information, see the Fumigants Assessment page on the PANNA

website: http://www.panna.org/campaigns/driftFumigants.html

 

Sources: EPA Fumigant Cluster Assessment website,

http://www.epa.gov/oppfod01/cb/csb_page/updates/soilfumig.htm; EPA

Preliminary Risk Assessment and Comments, Electronic Docket,

http://docket.epa.gov/edkpub/index.jsp, search for Methyl bromide

Docket No. OPP-2005-0123, 1,3-Dichloropropene (Telone) Docket No.

OPP-2005-0124, Metam sodium: Docket No. OPP-2005-0125, Dazomet: Docket

No. OPP-2005-0128; Global Pesticide Campaigner, August 2005;

Secondhand Pesticides: Airborne Pesticide Drift in California, 2002,

Susan Kegley, PANNA, Anne Katten, California Rural Legal Assistance

Foundation, Marion Moses, Pesticide Education Center,

http://www.panna.org/resources/documents/secondhandDriftAvail.dv.html.

Contact: PANNA

 

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