Tag Archive for: EPA

EPA Holds Virtual Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee Meeting in May

This original announcement was published by the EPA on April 27, 2022. Click here for more information.

EPA will hold a virtual public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on May 25-26, 2022.

Meeting topics will include:

  • EPA’s response to recommendations made by the PPDC at the October 2021 meeting on managing pesticide resistance, supporting farmworker and clinician training, responding to emerging viral pathogens, and regulating emerging agricultural technologies.
  • Next steps for implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) workplan, as well as recent updates to the Bulletins Live! Two system.
  • EPA, the American Association of Pesticide Control Officials, and industry will present on work they have done to modernize pesticide labels through increased standardization and digitization. The PPDC will discuss this work and suggest possible paths forward.
  • A discussion of the Good Laboratory Practices Inspection program activities from EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
  • An overview of recent Pesticide Program activities and accomplishments, and updates on current program priorities.

Register here to attend the meeting. Additional information can be found on the PPDC webpage and in the Federal Register notice.

To provide comments during the meeting, request special accommodations, or get more information, please contact Shannon Jewell at jewell.shannon@epa.gov or at (571) 289-9911 by May 17.

 

 

EPA Finalizes Certain Pesticide Product Performance Data Requirements to Improve Clarity and Reduce Burden for Registrants

This original announcement was published by the EPA on April 16, 2022. Click here for more information!

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced final product performance data requirements for products claiming efficacy against certain pests. This action officially incorporates EPA’s product performance standards requirements for certain invertebrate pests into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), increases the efficiency of the Agency’s approval process, and saves registrants time and money.

Product performance standards make it easier for pesticide registrants to know the efficacy data that must be submitted to the Agency to prove their pesticide product works as claimed. By adding these requirements into the CFR, EPA will help ensure submitted data meet the Agency’s needs and scientific standards and satisfy a requirement of the 2018 Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act (PRIA 4). The final rule saves registrants approximately $17,000 per data package submitted to the Agency by reducing waste and unnecessary testing.

This final rule codifies product performance data requirements to support registration of products claiming efficacy against three categories of invertebrate pests:

  • Those identified to be of significant public health importance (e.g., ticks, mosquitoes, cockroaches, etc.),
  • Wood-destroying insects (e.g., termites), and
  • Certain invasive invertebrate species (e.g., Asian long-horned beetle).

EPA Takes Next Step in the Review of Anthraquinone

This original announcement is published by the EPA on April 7, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking the next step in the registration review process for the pesticide anthraquinone by releasing the final work plan and draft human health and ecological risk assessments. Anthraquinone is registered for use as an avian repellent in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings. Agricultural uses consist of seed treatments for corn and rice, with the latter predominately in the Arkansas Grand Prairie, the Mississippi Delta, and the Gulf Coast. Non-agricultural uses include foliar applications to turf at airports, athletic fields, and other non-agricultural sites.

Registration Review

For registration review, EPA is releasing the anthraquinone final work plan (FWP) and draft risk assessments (DRAs). The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires the Agency to periodically re-evaluate pesticides through registration review to ensure that risk assessments and pesticide decisions reflect the best available science. The FWP and DRAs are part of a multi-step process to identify risks of concern and to mitigate these risks.

With regard to the DRAs, these risk assessments are the product of an evaluation of available data on anthraquinone’s human health and environmental impacts.

EPA did not identify any dietary risks of concern from food and water exposure. Based on the calculations completed in the draft human health risk assessment, the Agency has identified potential cancer risk concerns from residential exposures to treated turf and occupational exposures for some pesticide handlers for each use. And because there are risk concerns from residential exposures alone, the aggregate exposures (i.e., combined dietary and residential exposures) therefore also result in risk concerns.

In light of the aggregate risks, EPA is working to expedite the implementation of mitigation measures in advance of the completion of registration review. Specifically, the registrant has agreed to prohibit use on residential turf sites, which EPA expects will eliminate the aggregate risks of concern when the label changes are fully implemented later this year.

The draft ecological risk assessment found potential adverse effects to birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish, aquatic invertebrates, and aquatic plants based on the data available. Potential risks to terrestrial invertebrates and plants as well as other taxa could not be fully assessed because there are multiple environmental fate and ecological effects data gaps. To address the identified data gaps, EPA plans to issue a Data Call-in (DCI) in April 2022 and consider the results of the data submitted in future anthraquinone risk assessments.

After reviewing and considering the public comments received on the DRAs, EPA will proceed with the next step in the registration review process and issue a proposed interim decision (PID). The PID will propose mitigation measures to address potential occupational and ecological risks. EPA expects to issue the PID for public comment in early 2023.

The public comment period for the DRAs is now open for 60 days. The FWP, DRAs and all supporting documents are available in the anthraquinone registration review docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0326 at www.regulations.gov.

Request for Data

EPA, as part of its registration review process for anthraquinone, reviewed rice field trial data submitted by the sole anthraquinone registrant. The data indicated that use of anthraquinone as a rice seed treatment is expected to result in detectable pesticide residues in or on food or feed. At this time, however, there is no established tolerance to cover those residues in or on rice commodities; thus, any harvested rice commodities containing such residues will be adulterated. It is unlawful to ship adulterated commodities through interstate commerce. Previously, EPA did not have reason to believe that the use of anthraquinone on rice would result in residues in or on rice and thus had considered this rice seed use as a non-food use (not needing a tolerance).

EPA is working actively with the registrant to address all the data gaps present in this registration review case. This includes requiring that the registrant develop the data needed to establish tolerances for the rice seed treatment use by 2024. The Agency anticipates a tolerance would be established no sooner than 2024 to allow for developing complete and accurate data and to enable a thorough review by EPA.

In information EPA provided to Food and Drug Administration, the Agency states that there are no dietary (rice and water) risks of concern from the use of anthraquinone on treated rice for any population subgroups, including infants and children. EPA’s dietary assessment is conservative and protective of potential dietary exposures. Although there is some uncertainty in the dietary risk assessments due to incomplete residue chemistry and fate databases, the chronic non-cancer and cancer dietary assessments are not likely to underestimate dietary risks.

Thus, EPA has concluded there are no resulting risks of concern from the consumption of rice commodities that could enter or are already available from the channels of trade. Additionally, once residential turf use sites are removed from the label, there will be no aggregate risks of concern (i.e., combined dietary and residential exposures). Once the necessary data are available and evaluated, tolerances can be established for this use.

EPA Expands Use of Enlist Products to 134 Additional Counties for the 2022 Growing Season

This original announcement was published by the EPA on March 29, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

Following the thorough review of a proposed label amendment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of Enlist One and Enlist Duo in 134 additional counties, providing growers with additional weed management options for the 2022 growing season. Today’s action is an example of EPA’s commitment to working with stakeholders when new information becomes available to make regulatory decisions that reflect the best available science and protect human health and the environment.

Enlist One and Enlist Duo, two herbicides used to control weeds in conventional and genetically-modified corn, cotton, and soybean crops, can now be used in all counties of Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. In Texas, Enlist products can now be used in Bowie, Cooke, Fannin, Grayson, Lamar, and Red River counties. Read page 16 of the new Enlist One label and page 16 of the new Enlist Duo label to see which counties remain prohibited.

In January 2022, EPA issued seven-year registrations for these Enlist products. At that time, Enlist One and Enlist Duo were not approved for use in all counties of the United States. Counties were prohibited if they were not proposed for use by the product registrant, Corteva, or if EPA expected the use of Enlist products would likely affect or jeopardize federally threatened or endangered (listed) species that live on-field in a county.

In February 2022, Corteva submitted a label amendment to propose use of Enlist One and Enlist Duo in 128 additional counties. Corteva did not propose use in these counties during the registration renewal because Enlist products were previously thought to put the American Burying Beetle, a threatened species, at risk. However, after the renewal action was complete, Corteva proposed that EPA consider use in these counties. Based on EPA’s new effects determination, which included a robust analysis of updated species range maps from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), EPA expects that the use of these products — with the existing label requirements in place to mitigate spray drift and pesticide runoff — will not likely jeopardize the American Burying Beetle or other listed species and their critical habitats in these counties.

In March 2022, Corteva also submitted a label amendment to propose use of Enlist Duo in six Minnesota counties. EPA previously prohibited use in these counties because the Agency expected that the use of Enlist Duo would likely jeopardize the Eastern Massasauga rattle snake exposed on-field. However, EPA’s prior analyses were based on FWS’s 2020 species range maps. EPA subsequently learned that FWS updated their species range map in 2021, which shows that the Eastern Massasauga rattle snake is no longer present in Minnesota. Therefore, EPA has now determined that the prohibition of Enlist Duo in these counties is no longer necessary. In addition, EPA evaluated whether the use of Enlist Duo would affect other off-field listed species that live in these counties. EPA now expects that, given the current mitigations on the product labels, these products will not likely jeopardize listed species or adversely modify critical habitats. The current mitigations will also reduce unintentional harm (i.e., “take”) to individuals of all listed species in these counties.

Regardless of whether Enlist One and Enlist Duo are applied in a county that contains listed species or not, all Enlist One and Enlist Duo applicators — in all 34 states where these products are registered for use — must follow label requirements that reduce pesticide spray drift and runoff. Additionally, it is important to note that Enlist One and Enlist Duo are still prohibited in several counties where EPA identified risks to other on-field listed species during earlier registrations, including prohibitions EPA recently implemented based on the Agency’s 2022 effects determination.

In addition to today’s action, EPA corrected an oversight on the Enlist One and Enlist Duo product labels by removing prohibitions for two counties in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Enlist products are not registered for use in the states of Massachusetts or Rhode Island, and therefore Enlist products remain prohibited in all counties of these states.

To view the registration documents for Enlist One and Enlist Duo, go to docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2021-0957. To learn more about these products, read EPA’s Q&A.

EPA Approves Label Amendments that Further Restrict the Use of Over-the-Top Dicamba in Minnesota and Iowa

This original announcement was published by the EPA on March 16, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved label amendments that further restrict the use of over-the-top dicamba in Minnesota and Iowa. The amendments, requested by pesticide registrants in consultation with those states, are intended to reduce risks from the use of over-the-top dicamba, an herbicide used to control certain types of broadleaf weeds.

The revised labeling prohibits over-the-top dicamba application:

  • On dicamba-tolerant crops after June 20 in Iowa;
  • On dicamba-tolerant crops south of Interstate 94 after June 12 in Minnesota (the cut-off date for land north of Interstate 94 remains June 30); and
  • When the air temperature is over 85 degrees at the time of application or if the forecasted high temperature of the nearest available location exceeds 85 degrees in Minnesota.

These restrictions are intended to reduce the likelihood of volatility and offsite movement of over-the-top dicamba by avoiding application on days with high temperatures. Among other requirements, the product registrants must add the amended labeling to their training and educational materials and disseminate this information to pesticide authorities and agricultural extension services to assist users in their local area. These label amendments demonstrate EPA’s ongoing commitment to help states address issues related to incidents in their jurisdictions. EPA’s highest priority is to protect human health and the environment, and all pesticide decisions must be consistent with this principle.

In December 2021, EPA released a summary of dicamba-related incident reports from the 2021 growing season obtained from pesticide registrants, States, the general public, and non-governmental organizations. Despite the control measures implemented in EPA’s October 2020 dicamba registration decision, incidents from the 2021 growing season show little change in number, severity, or geographic extent of dicamba-related incidents when compared to the reports the Agency received before the 2020 control measures were required. EPA received approximately 3,500 dicamba-related incident reports from the 2021 growing season, including approximately 711 incidents reported in Minnesota and 528 incidents reported in Iowa. Additionally, more than 280 incident reports came from counties where additional restrictions are required to protect endangered species when dicamba is applied to dicamba-tolerant soybean and cotton crops, including approximately 34 incident reports in Minnesota and 69 in Iowa.

Based on prior research and numerous stakeholder meetings, EPA has reason to believe the number of incidents reported significantly understates the actual number of incidents related to dicamba use. For example, in a 2020 memo, EPA estimated that one in 25 dicamba incidents was reported to EPA. No evidence available to EPA suggests that underreporting has changed.

Given the incident information obtained from the 2021 growing season, EPA is reviewing whether over-the-top dicamba can be used in a manner that does not pose unreasonable risks to non-target crops and other plants, or to listed species and their designated critical habitats. EPA is also evaluating all of its options for addressing future dicamba-related incidents.

As EPA considers the regulatory tools available to further address dicamba-related incidents, the Agency continues to work with states and registrants to assess and implement additional restrictions. If a state wishes to further restrict or narrow the over-the-top uses of dicamba, it may use FIFRA section 24(a) to do so, or like this action, it may work with registrants to submit a label amendment containing state-specific restrictions for EPA approval.

To view the label amendments, visit docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492 at www.regulations.gov.

Background on Dicamba

In 2017 and again in 2018, EPA amended the registrations of all over-the-top dicamba products following reports that growers had experienced crop damage and economic losses resulting from the off-site movement of dicamba. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the 2018 registrations in June 2020 on the basis that “EPA substantially understated risks that it acknowledged and failed entirely to acknowledge other risks.” Days after the court’s decision, EPA issued cancellation orders for the affected products that addressed existing stocks. Additionally, the 2018 decision was the focus of an Inspector General report.

In October 2020, EPA issued new registrations for two dicamba products and extended the registration of an additional dicamba product. These registration decisions were made with some input of EPA’s career scientists and managers and were expected to address the risk concerns noted by the Ninth Circuit. All three registrations included new measures that the Agency expected would prevent off-target movement and damage to non-target crops and other plants.

EPA Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Further Extend Certification of Pesticide Applicators Rule Deadline

This original announcement was published by the EPA on February 7, 2022. Click here for more information.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule seeking public comment on the need to extend the deadline up to but no longer than November 4, 2024 for states, territories, tribes and federal agencies with existing certification plans to comply with the updated federal standards under the 2017 Certification of Pesticide Applicators rule.

The 2017 Certification of Pesticide Applicators final rule set stronger standards for people who apply restricted use pesticides (RUPs) and required that states, territories, tribes and federal agencies with existing certification plans submit proposed modifications by March 4, 2020, to comply with the updated federal standards. In December 2021, EPA issued an interim final rule extending the existing plans’ expiration deadline from March 4, 2022, to November 4, 2022, due to the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the complexity of plans, and the need for careful review of program-specific issues and questions.

EPA is requesting comments on the potential need to further extend the expiration date of existing certification plans which would allow for certifying authorities that need more time to respond to EPA comments and prepare approvable certification plans. Also, EPA will have more time to work with the certifying authorities to assure that their proposed certification plan modifications meet current federal standards without interruption to Federal, State, territory, and tribal certification programs or to those who are certified to use RUPs under those programs.

EPA has reviewed all proposed plan modifications and is making progress on sending agency comments to certifying authorities (states, territories, tribes and other federal agencies). To date, EPA has completed 55 final reviews of the 68 plans submitted by certifying authorities.

Comments submitted on the interim final rule and on this proposed rule will be used to inform a further extension. The comment period for the proposed rule is open for 30 days in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2021-0831 at www.regulations.gov.

EPA Requires Cancellation of Pentachlorophenol to Protect Human Health

This original announcement was published by the EPA on February 4, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

Today, EPA issued a final registration review decision requiring the cancellation of pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative used primarily on utility poles. During the registration review process, EPA found that given the emergence of viable alternatives, the risks pentachlorophenol poses to workers’ health outweigh the benefits of its use.

Following EPA’s March 2021 proposal to cancel pentachlorophenol, for which the Agency held a 60-day comment period, this final decision concludes EPA’s registration review of pentachlorophenol and initiates the process of risk mitigation which in this case consists of cancellation. After two years, pentachlorophenol will no longer be manufactured, sold, or distributed in the United States.

EPA’s action aligns the United States with the United Nations’ Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Annex A listing of pentachlorophenol, which generally requires Parties to the Convention to eliminate its production, use, import, and export. Alternatives to pentachlorophenol include copper naphthenate and DCOIT, along with well-established wood preservatives such as chromated arsenicals and creosote.

The complete phase-out of pentachlorophenol will be conducted over five years and is intended to ensure stability within the utility pole industry by giving wood treaters time to switch to alternative wood preservatives. For the next two years, registrants may continue to produce, sell, and distribute wood preservatives containing pentachlorophenol while wood treatment facilities transition to alternatives. After February 2024, wood treatment facilities will be allowed to use their existing stocks of pentachlorophenol to produce treated wood for an additional three years.

Registrants are required to submit voluntary cancellation requests to the Agency within 60 days of the publication of the final registration review decision. The Agency will then begin the cancellation process by publishing a notice of receipt of these requests in the Federal Register and opening a 30-day public comment period.

To read EPA’s final decision, see docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0653 at regulations.gov.

EPA Expands Pesticide Outreach and Education to Better Meet the Needs of Pesticide Applicators, including Farmworkers, and Consumers

This original announcement was published by the EPA on February 1, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

Kicks off Fifth Annual National Pesticide Safety Education Month with new Spanish-language Pesticide Safety Videos for Farmworkers

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrates National Pesticide Safety Education Month to raise awareness for pesticide safety education and share best practices for using pesticides safely in and around our homes. Throughout the year, EPA provides resources and takes action to protect the well-being of all those who may come in contact with pesticides, from consumers who use disinfectants in their homes to pesticide handlers and farmworkers who work with and around pesticides in the fields.

“EPA is pleased to participate in National Pesticide Safety Education Month because providing tailored resources for farmworkers and other pesticide applicators is critical for ensuring that pesticides are responsibly used,” said Ya-Wei (Jake) Li, EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs. “Additionally, EPA continues to provide education and outreach on pesticide safety, particularly on disinfectants, to help consumers choose the right product for their needs and use that product safely.”

EPA’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) aims to prevent and reduce pesticide poisonings and injuries among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers, an effort propelled by making pesticide safety information accessible in several languages. Through a producer and syndicator of Spanish-language educational content, EPA developed public service announcements to help farmworkers reduce take-home pesticide exposure. EPA now offers a Spanish-language video (available in two lengths) that is based on learning from focus groups comprised of migrant and seasonal farm workers. The videos emphasize the importance of handwashing when working in agricultural areas where pesticides may be used. The videos have already been viewed more than 89,000 times and have reached over 82,000 users on social media. Watch the videos: El Factor Invisible and El Factor Invisible – Extended Version.

EPA is also proud to support numerous successful efforts and programs that help the public every day, including:

  • Responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency – EPA continues to provide helpful consumer tips and outreach on the best cleaning and disinfectant practices. These efforts included an informative video on how to use EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus to find approved products for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Agency has successfully reviewed and approved more than 500 surface disinfectant products to ensure American businesses, families, schools, and other organizations have as many tools as possible to disinfect surfaces during the pandemic.
  • Increasing access to pesticide safety information – EPA supports programs like the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), which provides objective, science-based information about pesticides and pesticide-related topics to enable people to make informed decisions. NPIC addresses current and emerging pesticide-related issues through their pesticides hotline with pesticide specialists answering calls from the public in over 240 languages. The site, which provides free federal, state, and local resources, receives around 8 million views per year.
  • Creating culturally relevant resources – EPA uses focus group research to produce a variety of creative, multicultural, language outreach materials. These include radio spots, newsletter ads, posters and more that raise awareness of worker protection under the WPS. The radio spots have reached farmworkers and their families in more than 75 geographical markets across the U.S., reaching an audience of approximately 25 million people. These radio messages included information on how farmworkers and pesticide handlers can reduce occupational exposure to pesticides, what to do if exposed, and how to mitigate illness and injury.
  • Supporting Pesticide Safety Education Programs (PSEPs) – PSEPs teach pesticide safety across the country to workers and target communities. EPA supports PSEPs to provide workshops and educational tools to approximately 825,000 certified pesticide applicators in a variety of languages and help them meet certification requirements. PSEPs reach an additional 2 million people, including pesticide educators, farmworkers, and inner-city and rural communities. Find a program near you.
  • Furthering pesticide-related outreach – EPA funds several projects that advance pesticide safety education. Most recently, EPA awarded a five-year cooperative agreement to the University of California-Davis, in partnership with Oregon State University, for the second phase of the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC). PERC coordinates development of pesticide-related educational resources that meet national needs. Many new resources were launched through this cooperative agreement including multilingual manuals, pamphlets, webpages, videos and guides for different targeted audiences on how to work with or around pesticides safely. More than 47,000 materials have been distributed.

The Agency also expects to release another grant opportunity later this month to increase the reach and scope of pesticide safety educational programs. Learn more today about pesticide safety by visiting https://www.epa.gov/pesticides.

EPA Releases New Calculator and Updated Data for Occupational Pesticide Seed Treatment Exposure

This original message was published by the EPA on January 19, 2022. Click here for more information.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new calculator and updated worker exposure data used to assess occupational safety for new seed treatment pesticides, new seed treatment uses of registered pesticides, and existing seed treatment pesticides currently undergoing review.

The new calculator provides an estimate of exposure and risk based on seed treatment exposure scenarios, exposure routes, and applicable personal protective equipment (PPE). It uses the most recent and robust exposure data available to EPA. Users of the calculator can observe how different inputs can affect occupational seed treatment exposures and risks by entering different seed treatment application rates and by reviewing the outputs at differing levels of PPE.

The updated worker exposure data released today include new exposure estimates based on studies from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force (AHETF) that monitored dermal and inhalation exposure for workers in commercial seed treatment facilities, for workers conducting on-farm seed treatment, and for workers loading and planting treated seed. The updated exposure values are the result of a multi-year effort on the part of the AHETF and EPA to review available seed treatment data to ensure the final dataset represents modern seed treatment processes and equipment and allows for more robust data analysis.

By using more recent and robust exposure data, the public and stakeholders will have more confidence and certainty in occupational pesticide seed treatment risks assessments. Additionally, the standardized data provides the agency with more efficiency in completing risk assessments and ensure transparency to the public and affected stakeholders.

EPA’s updated worker exposure data and calculator will help state and local governments, pesticide manufacturers, academics, and others evaluate the potential for health effects to a person who might be exposed to pesticides as part of their work.

Separately, the agency is currently developing a response to a petition submitted by the Center for Food Safety regarding treated seed. This update to the occupational pesticide seed treatment exposure data and calculator does not affect the ongoing review or response to the petition.

Learn more about the calculator and how EPA assesses pesticide risks on our website.

EPA Releases New Calculator and Updated Data for Occupational Pesticide Seed Treatment Exposure

This original announcement was published by the EPA on January 19, 2022. Click here for more information. 

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new calculator and updated worker exposure data used to assess occupational safety for new seed treatment pesticides, new seed treatment uses of registered pesticides, and existing seed treatment pesticides currently undergoing review.

The new calculator provides an estimate of exposure and risk based on seed treatment exposure scenarios, exposure routes, and applicable personal protective equipment (PPE). It uses the most recent and robust exposure data available to EPA. Users of the calculator can observe how different inputs can affect occupational seed treatment exposures and risks by entering different seed treatment application rates and by reviewing the outputs at differing levels of PPE.

The updated worker exposure data released today include new exposure estimates based on studies from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force (AHETF) that monitored dermal and inhalation exposure for workers in commercial seed treatment facilities, for workers conducting on-farm seed treatment, and for workers loading and planting treated seed. The updated exposure values are the result of a multi-year effort on the part of the AHETF and EPA to review available seed treatment data to ensure the final dataset represents modern seed treatment processes and equipment and allows for more robust data analysis.

By using more recent and robust exposure data, the public and stakeholders will have more confidence and certainty in occupational pesticide seed treatment risks assessments. Additionally, the standardized data provides the agency with more efficiency in completing risk assessments and ensure transparency to the public and affected stakeholders.

EPA’s updated worker exposure data and calculator will help state and local governments, pesticide manufacturers, academics, and others evaluate the potential for health effects to a person who might be exposed to pesticides as part of their work.

Separately, the agency is currently developing a response to a petition submitted by the Center for Food Safety regarding treated seed. This update to the occupational pesticide seed treatment exposure data and calculator does not affect the ongoing review or response to the petition.

Learn more about the calculator and how EPA assesses pesticide risks on our website.