PEP-Talk, December, 2002

PEP-Talk, December, 2002

Pesticide Education Program
Ohio State University Extension
Joanne Kick-Raack, State Coordinator
Cindy Folck, Communications
Vol. 6, Issue 12

In This Issue

PAT Agent Inservice

Clean Water Act Affecting Pesticide Applications

Efficacy Legal Case Could Go to U.S. Supreme Court

Adulticide Controversy

Pesticide Reporting System Short of Funds

No Solid Link Between 2,4-D and Cancer

Methyl Parathion Study of Children in Ohio and Mississippi

Debunking the Myths of Pesticides

Feminized Frogs Blamed on Atrazine

Companies Ordered to Stop Marketing Hospital Disinfectants

Pesticide Crop Watch

Upcoming Events

PAT Agent Inservice

Register on-line for the Pesticide Applicator Training Agent Inservice on January 8 & 9, 2003. The inservice will be at the Ag. Auditorium in the Agriculture Administration Building on OSU main campus. Cost is $10/day for just the inservice or $22/day for the inservice and lunch.

Clean Water Act Affecting Pesticide Applications

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District has ordered a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for spraying by the U.S. Forest Service. The court decision overturns a decision by a U.S. District Court that ruled a CWA permit was not necessary for the spraying program.

The case focuses on aerial spraying by the Forest Service to control a predicted outbreak of the Douglas Fir Tussock Moth. The lawsuit was brought to court by the League of Wilderness Defenders. The group contends that the Forest Service had prepared an inadequate environmental assessment of the area and should have obtained point-source pollution permit under the CWA. The court has ordered the Forest Service to stop spraying until they adequately analyze pesticide drift within the new environmental assessment and obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit under CWA with the airplane as the discharger of a pollutant from a point source which is polluting the streams in the spray area. (Source: USDA Forest Service)

Efficacy Legal Case Could Go to U.S. Supreme Court

Last month, PEP-Talk had an article about the Texas Supreme Court ruling in favor of farmers who could bring a crop damage case to court. The case involved two peanut farmers who were suing a pesticide manufacturer after their peanuts were damaged when they used a mixture recommended on the herbicide label.

This is in direct opposition to a case in California where the state supreme court ruled the FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) pre-empted damage suits filed by growers. The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the Justice Department to offer the federal government's views on whether Congress, in enacting FIFRA, intended to pre-empt certain private suits against pesticide manufacturers. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 4)

Adulticide Controversey

Controversy continues over spraying adulticides to kill adult mosquitoes. Often, the adulticides are sprayed when mosquitoes are hovering over water bodies. Several groups have begun filing Clean Water Act (CWA) lawsuits to protest application of adulticides. The lawsuits contend that applicators must first obtain CWA permits before spraying the pesticides. EPA has taken the position that if the adulticide is applied according to the label the application is legal under FIFRA (Federal Insecticides, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.) (Source: Associated Press, Oct. 11, 2002)

Meanwhile, several environmental groups have filed suit against EPA for a Special Local Needs registration for fenthion in Florida and Louisiana. Fenthion is an organophosphate insecticide that is used for adulticiding. The environmental groups say EPA is violating the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by allowing fenthion spraying in these two states. They claim fenthion poses a serious avian risk, especially in Florida. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 2)

New products are being tested for mosquito control. Researchers at the University of Florida have created a larvicide that uses a naturally occurring hormone to control mosquitoes. The hormone is mixed with yeast and developed into granules that can be applied to ponds. The researchers hope to have the product available on the market next year. (Source: Associated Press, Sept. 3, 2002) Meanwhile, researchers at Iowa State University have reported that catnip may be an effective mosquito repellent. Nepetalactone, an essential oil in catnip, may be 10x as effective in repelling mosquitoes as DEET, the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellents. (Source: Iowa State University College of Agriculture)

Pesticide Reporting System Short of Funds

In 1999, the Oregon legislature directed the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to develop a pesticide use reporting system. The system would be the first-ever Internet-based system to track pesticide usage. However, funding has fallen short of the needed amount to complete the project. The data gathering portion of the system is supposed to begin by Jan. 31, but the department is having to develop a temporary system to allow pesticide users to file reports. The system was to show pesticide usage, but keep the identifies of pesticide sellers and users and the locations of pesticide use confidential. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 4)

No Solid Link Between 2,4-D and Cancer

A recent study found no evidence in available scientific research to link the use of 2,4-D with cancer in humans. The review was done by the University of Michigan and commissioned by the Industry Task Force II on 2,4-D Research Data. The study was part of the research studies required by Canadian and U.S. pesticide re-registration programs. 2,4-D is under re-evaluations because it has been on the market for a long time. Currently, 2,4-D is the most widely used herbicide in the world and the third most widely used herbicide in the U.S. and Canada. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 50)

Methyl Parathion Study of Children in Ohio and Mississippi

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is releasing the results of a study of children exposed to the pesticide methyl parathion. The study included 181 children in Mississippi and 146 children in Ohio whose homes had been sprayed with methyl parathion or who lived with at least one person who had high levels of methyl parathion in his or her urine. Registered only for outdoor use, methyl parathion was used illegally in homes and businesses to kill cockroaches as recently as 1996. The illegal use in Ohio resulted in criminal charges to the applicators and extensive clean-up efforts.

The recently released study looked at whether methyl parathion affected the nervous system and certain behaviors in the children who were exposed when compared to unexposed children who lived in the same area. The study was done in the summers of 1999 and 2000 and looked at nervous system development problems or behavioral problems. Overall, exposed children scored in the average range, very similar to the unexposed children on most tests. However, exposed children had subtle problems with short-term memory compared with unexposed children. The parents reported that exposed children had problems with motor skills, were distracted and misbehaved and were sad and shy compared to children whose homes were not sprayed or had low levels of methyl parathion. More information is available. (Source: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)

Debunking the Myths of Pesticides

Long-term studies in Europe and North America show that pesticides are safe when used according to label directions, according to the Pest Control Safety Council of Canada. The group has summarized pesticide studies in an article called "Pesticides: Debunking the Myths." Check out the article. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 50)

Feminized Frogs Blamed on Atrazine

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley studied leopard frog tadpoles in the Midwest during the summer of 2001. At each of the eight sites studied, they found feminized male frogs at every site with measurable levels of atrazine.

The researchers have documented similar results in other studies. They claim that atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs and is altering amphibian populations in large areas of the U.S., particularly in the Midwest. The article is entitled, "Atrazine-Induced Hermaphroditism at 1.0 ppb in American Leopard Frogs: Laboratory and Field Evidence" was released in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives and reported in the journal Nature (419:895-896) (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 3)

The study has been questioned on the research design. The level of atrazine in the ponds was measured after the frogs had developed sexually; there were no measurements during the time of sexual development. The funding for this research study was from the same source that funded a study by Tulane researchers in 1996 that later was determined by federal officials to be scientific misconduct. (Source: Fox News, Nov. 8, 2002)

Another study was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Oregon, Claremont McKenna College, the University of Wisconsin and Oregon State University to determine developmental effects in an African frog species. Their study linked the frog malformations to a parasite that was found among 12,000 deformed frogs in California, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. This study refuted research that linked the abnormal development effects of this frog species to atrazine. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 27)

Companies Ordered to Stop Marketing Hospital Disinfectants

EPA has ordered two companies to stop selling and distributing an ineffective hospital disinfectant and tuberculocide. The product, Bi-Arrest 2 is distributed by Infection Control Technologies and registered by Biospan Technologies. The product has been found ineffective to control microorganisms in operating rooms, emergency rooms and other public health situations. The label contained statements that the product was effective against the microorganisms, but EPA testing proved these claims to be false. (Source: EPA Pesticide Program Update, Dec. 2, 2002)

Pesticide Crop Watch

Insecticides

Nemacur (fenamiphos) - Bayer will voluntarily cancel all registration for this product effective May 31, 2007

Termidor (fipronil) - Bayer has added to their label the usage for structures with French drains and sump pumps to control termites, termite control above ground and the control of ants.

Herbicides

Oxyfluorfen - EPA has announced the oxyfluorfen studies and risk mitigation measures necessary for the herbicide to remain registered. Produced by Dow AgroSciences as Goal and Makhteshim-Agan as Galigan, oxyfluorfen is used mainly on wine grapes, artichokes, pistachios, almonds and table grapes. It is also registered for pastures, rights-of-way and ornamental plantings. Click here for more information about the reregistration process. The risk mitigation decision is available.

Fungicides

Echo 720 (chlorothalonil) - Sipcam has added to their label the use on turf to control algal scum.

Elevate (fenhexamid) - Arvesta has added to their label the suppression of powdery mildew on grapes and the control of botrytis on caneberries.

Qwel Liquid Concentrate (macleaya) - Camas Technologies has been approved for this product to be used for foliar application to ornamental crops in enclosed greenhouses for control of powdery mildew and Alternaria and Septoria leaf spots.

Serenade (Bacillus subtilis QST-713) - Agraquest has added to their label the usage on broccoli and peppers.

(Source for Pesticide Crop Watch: Agricultural Chemical News, Vol. 278)

Upcoming Events

Agent Inservice
January 8 & 9, 2003, Ag. Auditorium, Ag. Admin. Bldg., OSU main campus

Commercial Recertification Conference
General Conference (turf, ornamental, industrial vegetation, general pest, termite) December 17, 2002 - Dayton Columbus Center
January 15, 2003 - Perrysburg, Holiday Day Inn French Quarters
February 6, 2003 - Columbus Convention Center

Commercial Recertification Conference
Field Crop Conference (agricultural pest, agronomic weed)
January 29, 2003 - Columbus, OSU Fawcett Center
February 12, 2003 - Lima Holiday Inn

All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension.

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	PEP-Talk, December, 2002 Pesticide Education Program Ohio State University Extension Joanne Kick-Raack, State Coordinator Cindy Folck, Communications Vol. 6, Issue 12 In This Issue PAT Agent Inservice Clean Water Act Affecting Pesticide Applications Efficacy Legal Case Could Go to U.S. Supreme Court Adulticide Controversy Pesticide Reporting System Short of Funds No Solid Link Between 2,4-D and Cancer Methyl Parathion Study of Children in Ohio and Mississippi Debunking the Myths of Pesticides Feminized Frogs Blamed on Atrazine Companies Ordered to Stop Marketing Hospital Disinfectants Pesticide Crop Watch Upcoming Events PAT Agent Inservice Register on-line for the Pesticide Applicator Training Agent Inservice on January 8 & 9, 2003. The inservice will be at the Ag. Auditorium in the Agriculture Administration Building on OSU main campus. Cost is $10/day for just the inservice or $22/day for the inservice and lunch. Clean Water Act Affecting Pesticide Applications The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District has ordered a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for spraying by the U.S. Forest Service. The court decision overturns a decision by a U.S. District Court that ruled a CWA permit was not necessary for the spraying program. The case focuses on aerial spraying by the Forest Service to control a predicted outbreak of the Douglas Fir Tussock Moth. The lawsuit was brought to court by the League of Wilderness Defenders. The group contends that the Forest Service had prepared an inadequate environmental assessment of the area and should have obtained point-source pollution permit under the CWA. The court has ordered the Forest Service to stop spraying until they adequately analyze pesticide drift within the new environmental assessment and obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit under CWA with the airplane as the discharger of a pollutant from a point source which is polluting the streams in the spray area. (Source: USDA Forest Service) Efficacy Legal Case Could Go to U.S. Supreme Court Last month, PEP-Talk had an article about the Texas Supreme Court ruling in favor of farmers who could bring a crop damage case to court. The case involved two peanut farmers who were suing a pesticide manufacturer after their peanuts were damaged when they used a mixture recommended on the herbicide label. This is in direct opposition to a case in California where the state supreme court ruled the FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) pre-empted damage suits filed by growers. The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the Justice Department to offer the federal government's views on whether Congress, in enacting FIFRA, intended to pre-empt certain private suits against pesticide manufacturers. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 4) Adulticide Controversey Controversy continues over spraying adulticides to kill adult mosquitoes. Often, the adulticides are sprayed when mosquitoes are hovering over water bodies. Several groups have begun filing Clean Water Act (CWA) lawsuits to protest application of adulticides. The lawsuits contend that applicators must first obtain CWA permits before spraying the pesticides. EPA has taken the position that if the adulticide is applied according to the label the application is legal under FIFRA (Federal Insecticides, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.) (Source: Associated Press, Oct. 11, 2002) Meanwhile, several environmental groups have filed suit against EPA for a Special Local Needs registration for fenthion in Florida and Louisiana. Fenthion is an organophosphate insecticide that is used for adulticiding. The environmental groups say EPA is violating the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by allowing fenthion spraying in these two states. They claim fenthion poses a serious avian risk, especially in Florida. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 2) New products are being tested for mosquito control. Researchers at the University of Florida have created a larvicide that uses a naturally occurring hormone to control mosquitoes. The hormone is mixed with yeast and developed into granules that can be applied to ponds. The researchers hope to have the product available on the market next year. (Source: Associated Press, Sept. 3, 2002) Meanwhile, researchers at Iowa State University have reported that catnip may be an effective mosquito repellent. Nepetalactone, an essential oil in catnip, may be 10x as effective in repelling mosquitoes as DEET, the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellents. (Source: Iowa State University College of Agriculture) Pesticide Reporting System Short of Funds In 1999, the Oregon legislature directed the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to develop a pesticide use reporting system. The system would be the first-ever Internet-based system to track pesticide usage. However, funding has fallen short of the needed amount to complete the project. The data gathering portion of the system is supposed to begin by Jan. 31, but the department is having to develop a temporary system to allow pesticide users to file reports. The system was to show pesticide usage, but keep the identifies of pesticide sellers and users and the locations of pesticide use confidential. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 4) No Solid Link Between 2,4-D and Cancer A recent study found no evidence in available scientific research to link the use of 2,4-D with cancer in humans. The review was done by the University of Michigan and commissioned by the Industry Task Force II on 2,4-D Research Data. The study was part of the research studies required by Canadian and U.S. pesticide re-registration programs. 2,4-D is under re-evaluations because it has been on the market for a long time. Currently, 2,4-D is the most widely used herbicide in the world and the third most widely used herbicide in the U.S. and Canada. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 50) Methyl Parathion Study of Children in Ohio and Mississippi The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is releasing the results of a study of children exposed to the pesticide methyl parathion. The study included 181 children in Mississippi and 146 children in Ohio whose homes had been sprayed with methyl parathion or who lived with at least one person who had high levels of methyl parathion in his or her urine. Registered only for outdoor use, methyl parathion was used illegally in homes and businesses to kill cockroaches as recently as 1996. The illegal use in Ohio resulted in criminal charges to the applicators and extensive clean-up efforts. The recently released study looked at whether methyl parathion affected the nervous system and certain behaviors in the children who were exposed when compared to unexposed children who lived in the same area. The study was done in the summers of 1999 and 2000 and looked at nervous system development problems or behavioral problems. Overall, exposed children scored in the average range, very similar to the unexposed children on most tests. However, exposed children had subtle problems with short-term memory compared with unexposed children. The parents reported that exposed children had problems with motor skills, were distracted and misbehaved and were sad and shy compared to children whose homes were not sprayed or had low levels of methyl parathion. More information is available. (Source: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) Debunking the Myths of Pesticides Long-term studies in Europe and North America show that pesticides are safe when used according to label directions, according to the Pest Control Safety Council of Canada. The group has summarized pesticide studies in an article called "Pesticides: Debunking the Myths." Check out the article. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 50) Feminized Frogs Blamed on Atrazine Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley studied leopard frog tadpoles in the Midwest during the summer of 2001. At each of the eight sites studied, they found feminized male frogs at every site with measurable levels of atrazine. The researchers have documented similar results in other studies. They claim that atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs and is altering amphibian populations in large areas of the U.S., particularly in the Midwest. The article is entitled, "Atrazine-Induced Hermaphroditism at 1.0 ppb in American Leopard Frogs: Laboratory and Field Evidence" was released in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives and reported in the journal Nature (419:895-896) (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 31, No. 3) The study has been questioned on the research design. The level of atrazine in the ponds was measured after the frogs had developed sexually; there were no measurements during the time of sexual development. The funding for this research study was from the same source that funded a study by Tulane researchers in 1996 that later was determined by federal officials to be scientific misconduct. (Source: Fox News, Nov. 8, 2002) Another study was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Oregon, Claremont McKenna College, the University of Wisconsin and Oregon State University to determine developmental effects in an African frog species. Their study linked the frog malformations to a parasite that was found among 12,000 deformed frogs in California, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. This study refuted research that linked the abnormal development effects of this frog species to atrazine. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 27) Companies Ordered to Stop Marketing Hospital Disinfectants EPA has ordered two companies to stop selling and distributing an ineffective hospital disinfectant and tuberculocide. The product, Bi-Arrest 2 is distributed by Infection Control Technologies and registered by Biospan Technologies. The product has been found ineffective to control microorganisms in operating rooms, emergency rooms and other public health situations. The label contained statements that the product was effective against the microorganisms, but EPA testing proved these claims to be false. (Source: EPA Pesticide Program Update, Dec. 2, 2002) Pesticide Crop Watch Insecticides Nemacur (fenamiphos) - Bayer will voluntarily cancel all registration for this product effective May 31, 2007 Termidor (fipronil) - Bayer has added to their label the usage for structures with French drains and sump pumps to control termites, termite control above ground and the control of ants. Herbicides Oxyfluorfen - EPA has announced the oxyfluorfen studies and risk mitigation measures necessary for the herbicide to remain registered. Produced by Dow AgroSciences as Goal and Makhteshim-Agan as Galigan, oxyfluorfen is used mainly on wine grapes, artichokes, pistachios, almonds and table grapes. It is also registered for pastures, rights-of-way and ornamental plantings. Click here for more information about the reregistration process. The risk mitigation decision is available. Fungicides Echo 720 (chlorothalonil) - Sipcam has added to their label the use on turf to control algal scum. Elevate (fenhexamid) - Arvesta has added to their label the suppression of powdery mildew on grapes and the control of botrytis on caneberries. Qwel Liquid Concentrate (macleaya) - Camas Technologies has been approved for this product to be used for foliar application to ornamental crops in enclosed greenhouses for control of powdery mildew and Alternaria and Septoria leaf spots. Serenade (Bacillus subtilis QST-713) - Agraquest has added to their label the usage on broccoli and peppers. (Source for Pesticide Crop Watch: Agricultural Chemical News, Vol. 278) Upcoming Events Agent Inservice January 8 & 9, 2003, Ag. Auditorium, Ag. Admin. Bldg., OSU main campus Commercial Recertification Conference General Conference (turf, ornamental, industrial vegetation, general pest, termite) December 17, 2002 - Dayton Columbus Center January 15, 2003 - Perrysburg, Holiday Day Inn French Quarters February 6, 2003 - Columbus Convention Center Commercial Recertification Conference Field Crop Conference (agricultural pest, agronomic weed) January 29, 2003 - Columbus, OSU Fawcett Center February 12, 2003 - Lima Holiday Inn All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension. Top of Page Return to Home