PEP-Talk, March, 2002

PEP-Talk, March, 2002

Pesticide Education Program
Ohio State University Extension
Joanne Kick-Raack, State Coordinator
Cindy Folck, Communications
Vol. 6, Issue 3

In This Issue

Jeopardy(tm) Label Game

Tainted Compost Controversy

Acephate Status

Terbufos Label Revisions Identified

CCA Wood Preservation Timelines

Maine Considers Limiting Arsenic Amount in Fertilizer

Beware of Internet Opportunities

School IPM Update

Organic Flowers Brought to Market Bloom

Making PowerPoint Files Smaller

Pesticide Crop Watch

Jeopardy (tm) Label Game

On our website is a link to a computer-based game to teach pesticide labels during a training session. Developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension, the game focuses on label knowledge in a format based on the Jeopardy (tm) television game show.

Two fictitious pesticide labels were developed for the game. One label is called Rondo and is a non-selective herbicide (glyphosate). The other label is called Surmise and is a termiticide (imidacloprid). To find the game, visit our website at http://pested.osu.edu. On the agent information page, the game is linked under "Training Materials."

Tainted Compost Controversy

Clopyralid, a herbicide manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, has been detected in compost facilities in Washington, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well as New Zealand. The herbicide has been used on lawns and golf courses to kill dandelions, clover and other broadleaf plants. Clopyralid herbicides are also used in agriculture to control invasive weeds and woody plants on rangeland and permanent grass pastures.

Unlike other herbicides, clopyralid doesn't break down quickly when composted. Heat generated during composting, which speeds the breakdown of some chemicals, doesn't seem to eliminate clopyralid. According to Dow, clopyralid typically breaks down in 24 days. However, heat produced during the composting process kills the bacteria responsible for degrading the chemical.

The concern is that compost containing some amounts of the chemical could damage sensitive plants such as tomatoes, legumes and sunflowers, according to the GrassRoots Recycling Network, Athens, Ga. Dow contends that the pesticide is needed for effective control of noxious weeds. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 11)

Acephate Status

Most acephate uses will remain available as long as a wide-range of risk mitigation measure are put in place. The insecticide is used on sod, golf course turf, field borders, fence rows, roadsides, ditch banks as well as greenhouse and horticultural-nursery floral and foliage plants. Crop uses include several vegetables. Acephate, a broad spectrum organophosphate (OP), also has public health uses in restaurants, food handling establishments, warehouses, stores and hotels.

Acephate was part of the review of OPs in response to the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). Assessing the risks of acephate is particularly tricky because one of its metabolites, methamidophos, is itself a registered OP. The use of acephate in residential situations brought concern regarding the risk of children exposed through food and drinking water. This concern has since been mitigated by a registrant decision to eliminate indoor residential and residential turf uses. By deleting these uses, EPA's concerns over aggregate risk were reduced. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 15)

Terbufos Label Revisions Identified

EPA has released the Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision for terbufos, an organophosphate insecticide and nematicide. Terbufos is registered by BASF Corporation.

First registered in 1974, terbufos is used primarily on field corn, with about 10 percent of the crop treated annually with about 6.5 million pounds of active ingredient. It's also used on sugar beets, sorghum and sweet corn. BASF has agreed to implement label revisions that include:

Requirement that Counter 15G be made with enclosed cab tractors

Change in size of vegetative buffers near surface water needed during application

Change in requirements for setbacks with tile outlets and surface water

For more information on the label changes, click on the Reregistration Eligibility Decision at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/terbufos.htm (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14).

CCA Wood Preservation Timelines

EPA announced a voluntary decision by the industry to stop using chromated copper arsenate (CCA) to treat wood destined for consumer use by December 31, 2003. This affects all residential uses of wood treated CCA, including play-structures, decks, picnic tables, landscaping timbers, residential fencing, patios and walkways/boardwalks.

Wood treated prior to December 31, 2003 can still be used in residential settings. Previously built structures containing CCA-treated wood are not affected by this action. A number of preservatives have been registered by EPA, and wood treated with these preservatives are expected to be available in the marketplace. EPA has a "frequently asked question" sheet about CCA available as well as other information about CCA.

Maine Considers Limiting Arsenic Amount in Fertilizer

State representatives in Maine are considering a bill to set a limit of 500 parts per million for the amount of arsenic allowed in fertilizer sold in the state. The bill also instructs state health and environment officials to conduct a study of environmentally acceptable arsenic levels in other products and materials. The bill would effectively ban the sale of Ironite brand fertilizer which contains 4,380 ppm of arsenic and 2,910 ppm of lead. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14)

Beware of Internet Opportunities

Federal and state pesticide laws can be enforced with pesticides sold over internet sites. Last spring, 60 people from the enforcement office within EPA went "surfing" over the internet and found about 600 sites that could be violating federal and state pesticide laws. The infringements ranged from World War II-era pesticides to minimum-risk pesticides offering ridiculous claims, to simply bad advice on pesticide use. Ohio growers can only use pesticides labeled for use in Ohio. Before purchasing a product over the internet, growers should check with the supplier to make sure the product is labeled for use in Ohio.

School IPM Update

SEPA - The School Environment Protection Act (SEPA) is part of the Senate-passed farm bill. SEPA was revived after being defeated by the Education Conference Panel as an amendment to the education bill. In response to Congressional concern, language was added to SEPA to clarify that mosquito and fire ant abatement districts will not be impacted by the legislation. Highlights of SEPA are:

Each state must develop a school pest management plan that school districts must implement

School districts must employ or hire one certified applicator or other qualified person to implement the school pest management plan

Application of pesticides to any occupied area or room in a school is prohibited

Schools are required to post signs alerting students and staff of pesticide applications

Schools are required to notify parents of the existence of the school's pest management plan

Schools are required to inform parents of their right to be notified prior to the application of certain types of pesticides. Parents requesting this notification must be notified at least 24 hours prior to applications

Pennsylvania - Alternative pest management has been added to the curriculum of Pennsylvania's public schools. The State Board of Education and the Regulatory Review Commission have adopted academic standards for environmental studies, of which IPM will be a part. On the regulatory side, a bill currently before the Pennsylvania Senate would require advance notification of pesticide applications within schools and on school grounds, athletic fields and playgrounds. It also would require notification for the implementation of IPM programs in schools. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14)

Michigan - Michigan State University has developed an activity guide for teaching urban integrated pest management for grades K-6. The manual is written for teachers to incorporate IPM in their classroom teaching. An activity guide is available. (Source: Pesticide Notes, Michigan State University, Jan. - Feb. 2002)

California - The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has launched a new version of its School Integrated Pest Management Website, which includes a step-by-step checklist to help school officials determine when pesticide use must be reported and indicated by posted signs. It also contains links to databases and IPM resources. The address is www.school.ipm.info (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14)

Indiana - An Indiana environmental group is increasing pressure on 59 Indiana school districts who have not adopted a model school pesticide-use policy developed by the state's school board association. The policy includes provisions to limit pesticide use when children are present, to require staff training, to provide parents and staff with "right-to-know" information and to ensure proper pesticide storage. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Dec. 24, 2001)

Organic Flowers Brought to Market Bloom

The first organic floral company in the U.S. brought its initial crop of pesticide free tulips to consumers. The bulbs were bio-dynamically grown in Holland and shipped to California to be organically grown in a greenhouse. Organic Bouquet, Novato, Calif., announced the availability of its 300,000-stem crop in January. The crop is valued at $420,000 with a retail price point of $6.99 for a 5-stem bunch. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 15)

Making PowerPoint Files Smaller

Has this happened to you -- you have a great PowerPoint file that you have created and after the presentation, someone asks you to e-mail the file to them. But, when you try from your computer you receive error messages that the file is too big.

Marc Sulc, extension specialist, forage, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science shared a time-saving way to reduce PowerPoint files. After all the pictures and other objects have been imported, the size of the file can be reduced by reducing the size of the pictures. The steps to achieve this are:

Select the picture or object

Under the edit menu, choose "copy"

With the picture or object still selected, choose "cut" under the edit menu

Again, under the edit menu, choose "paste special"

In the dialogue box, select "paste as JPEG"

The picture or object will be reinserted into your slide.

You may have to adjust the position after the pasting. This should help reduce the size of the file. For example, we used this method for one of the files e-mailed to agents. The original file was 2 MB and after applying this technique, the file became less than 900 K. Good luck!

Pesticide Crop Watch

Insecticides

Dimethoate - Cheminova, in an agreement with EPA, on all labels for this product will delete all uses in and around residences or domestic dwellings, including home garden and home greenhouses. Also, usages in public or private buildings, including landscaping are deleted. Also deleted were housefly treatments on farm buildings and structures, farm animal quarters and manure piles.

Di Syston (disulfoton) - Bayer sent a request to EPA to delete from the label the usage on dry beans, peas, lentils, poplars grown for pulp wood, sorghum, soybeans, tobacco and triticate.

Malathion - Cheminova will no longer support usages on turf, so this usage will be removed from all labels.

Nicotine - EPA has proposed to revoke residue tolerances for products that contain nicotine when used as an insecticide, since there are none left registered in the U.S.

Orthene (acephate) Valent has label changes that include the dropping of all indoor residential uses including the use by pest control operators and the usage on residential turf. Turf uses can still be done on golf courses, sod farms and spot treatments for ant control. It can still be used on all its agricultural, nursery, landscape, ornamental and greenhouse uses. Also, it can still be used by pest control operators in commercial and industrial buildings.

Savey 50WP (hexythiazox) - Gowan has added to their label the usage on plums, cranberries, tree nuts and pistachios.

Success (spinosad) Dow AgroSciences has added to their label usage on strawberries as a foliar spray.

Herbicides

Plateau (imazapic) - BASF has received EPA registration to control grass weeds in Bermuda grass pastures. Some broadleaf weeds are also controlled. Observe a 7-day hazing restriction but no grazing restrictions.

Fungicides

Maneb - Griffin and others have decided due to re-registration costs the usage on golf courses and all homeowner usages will be removed from the label.

Messenger (harpen protein) - Eden BioScience has added to their label the control of botrytis, bunch rot and powdery mildew on grapes and the control of speck and leaf spot on fruiting vegetables.

Microthiol (sulfur) - Cerexagri has added to their label the control of leaf spot and powdery mildew on peas.

Correction - Topsin-M (thiophanate-methyl) - Addition of pears, pistachios, celery and grapes on the label is pending.

Miscellaneous

Certis - The company has made an agreement with Ecogen to purchase all their B.t. products. Certis, which is the old Thermo Trilogy, will market them under their own name.

Crop Life America - Name change for the old American Crop Protection Association (ACPA). It became effective 1-1-02

(Source for Pesticide Crop Watch: Agricultural Chemical News, Vol. 269)

Upcoming Events

Commercial New Applicator School

March 13 - 14, 2002 at the Fawcett Center, OSU Campus

Cancelled - March 13 - Video conference at the Southwest District Office, Vandalia

Top of Page

Return to Home




	PEP-Talk, March, 2002 Pesticide Education Program Ohio State University Extension Joanne Kick-Raack, State Coordinator Cindy Folck, Communications Vol. 6, Issue 3 In This Issue Jeopardy(tm) Label Game Tainted Compost Controversy Acephate Status Terbufos Label Revisions Identified CCA Wood Preservation Timelines Maine Considers Limiting Arsenic Amount in Fertilizer Beware of Internet Opportunities School IPM Update Organic Flowers Brought to Market Bloom Making PowerPoint Files Smaller Pesticide Crop Watch Jeopardy (tm) Label Game On our website is a link to a computer-based game to teach pesticide labels during a training session. Developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension, the game focuses on label knowledge in a format based on the Jeopardy (tm) television game show. Two fictitious pesticide labels were developed for the game. One label is called Rondo and is a non-selective herbicide (glyphosate). The other label is called Surmise and is a termiticide (imidacloprid). To find the game, visit our website at http://pested.osu.edu. On the agent information page, the game is linked under "Training Materials." Tainted Compost Controversy Clopyralid, a herbicide manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, has been detected in compost facilities in Washington, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well as New Zealand. The herbicide has been used on lawns and golf courses to kill dandelions, clover and other broadleaf plants. Clopyralid herbicides are also used in agriculture to control invasive weeds and woody plants on rangeland and permanent grass pastures. Unlike other herbicides, clopyralid doesn't break down quickly when composted. Heat generated during composting, which speeds the breakdown of some chemicals, doesn't seem to eliminate clopyralid. According to Dow, clopyralid typically breaks down in 24 days. However, heat produced during the composting process kills the bacteria responsible for degrading the chemical. The concern is that compost containing some amounts of the chemical could damage sensitive plants such as tomatoes, legumes and sunflowers, according to the GrassRoots Recycling Network, Athens, Ga. Dow contends that the pesticide is needed for effective control of noxious weeds. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 11) Acephate Status Most acephate uses will remain available as long as a wide-range of risk mitigation measure are put in place. The insecticide is used on sod, golf course turf, field borders, fence rows, roadsides, ditch banks as well as greenhouse and horticultural-nursery floral and foliage plants. Crop uses include several vegetables. Acephate, a broad spectrum organophosphate (OP), also has public health uses in restaurants, food handling establishments, warehouses, stores and hotels. Acephate was part of the review of OPs in response to the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). Assessing the risks of acephate is particularly tricky because one of its metabolites, methamidophos, is itself a registered OP. The use of acephate in residential situations brought concern regarding the risk of children exposed through food and drinking water. This concern has since been mitigated by a registrant decision to eliminate indoor residential and residential turf uses. By deleting these uses, EPA's concerns over aggregate risk were reduced. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 15) Terbufos Label Revisions Identified EPA has released the Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision for terbufos, an organophosphate insecticide and nematicide. Terbufos is registered by BASF Corporation. First registered in 1974, terbufos is used primarily on field corn, with about 10 percent of the crop treated annually with about 6.5 million pounds of active ingredient. It's also used on sugar beets, sorghum and sweet corn. BASF has agreed to implement label revisions that include: Requirement that Counter 15G be made with enclosed cab tractors Change in size of vegetative buffers near surface water needed during application Change in requirements for setbacks with tile outlets and surface water For more information on the label changes, click on the Reregistration Eligibility Decision at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/op/terbufos.htm (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14). CCA Wood Preservation Timelines EPA announced a voluntary decision by the industry to stop using chromated copper arsenate (CCA) to treat wood destined for consumer use by December 31, 2003. This affects all residential uses of wood treated CCA, including play-structures, decks, picnic tables, landscaping timbers, residential fencing, patios and walkways/boardwalks. Wood treated prior to December 31, 2003 can still be used in residential settings. Previously built structures containing CCA-treated wood are not affected by this action. A number of preservatives have been registered by EPA, and wood treated with these preservatives are expected to be available in the marketplace. EPA has a "frequently asked question" sheet about CCA available as well as other information about CCA. Maine Considers Limiting Arsenic Amount in Fertilizer State representatives in Maine are considering a bill to set a limit of 500 parts per million for the amount of arsenic allowed in fertilizer sold in the state. The bill also instructs state health and environment officials to conduct a study of environmentally acceptable arsenic levels in other products and materials. The bill would effectively ban the sale of Ironite brand fertilizer which contains 4,380 ppm of arsenic and 2,910 ppm of lead. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14) Beware of Internet Opportunities Federal and state pesticide laws can be enforced with pesticides sold over internet sites. Last spring, 60 people from the enforcement office within EPA went "surfing" over the internet and found about 600 sites that could be violating federal and state pesticide laws. The infringements ranged from World War II-era pesticides to minimum-risk pesticides offering ridiculous claims, to simply bad advice on pesticide use. Ohio growers can only use pesticides labeled for use in Ohio. Before purchasing a product over the internet, growers should check with the supplier to make sure the product is labeled for use in Ohio. School IPM Update SEPA - The School Environment Protection Act (SEPA) is part of the Senate-passed farm bill. SEPA was revived after being defeated by the Education Conference Panel as an amendment to the education bill. In response to Congressional concern, language was added to SEPA to clarify that mosquito and fire ant abatement districts will not be impacted by the legislation. Highlights of SEPA are: Each state must develop a school pest management plan that school districts must implement School districts must employ or hire one certified applicator or other qualified person to implement the school pest management plan Application of pesticides to any occupied area or room in a school is prohibited Schools are required to post signs alerting students and staff of pesticide applications Schools are required to notify parents of the existence of the school's pest management plan Schools are required to inform parents of their right to be notified prior to the application of certain types of pesticides. Parents requesting this notification must be notified at least 24 hours prior to applications *Pennsylvania* - Alternative pest management has been added to the curriculum of Pennsylvania's public schools. The State Board of Education and the Regulatory Review Commission have adopted academic standards for environmental studies, of which IPM will be a part. On the regulatory side, a bill currently before the Pennsylvania Senate would require advance notification of pesticide applications within schools and on school grounds, athletic fields and playgrounds. It also would require notification for the implementation of IPM programs in schools. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14) *Michigan* - Michigan State University has developed an activity guide for teaching urban integrated pest management for grades K-6. The manual is written for teachers to incorporate IPM in their classroom teaching. An activity guide is available. (Source: Pesticide Notes, Michigan State University, Jan. - Feb. 2002) *California* - The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has launched a new version of its School Integrated Pest Management Website, which includes a step-by-step checklist to help school officials determine when pesticide use must be reported and indicated by posted signs. It also contains links to databases and IPM resources. The address is www.school.ipm.info (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 14) *Indiana* - An Indiana environmental group is increasing pressure on 59 Indiana school districts who have not adopted a model school pesticide-use policy developed by the state's school board association. The policy includes provisions to limit pesticide use when children are present, to require staff training, to provide parents and staff with "right-to-know" information and to ensure proper pesticide storage. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Dec. 24, 2001) Organic Flowers Brought to Market Bloom The first organic floral company in the U.S. brought its initial crop of pesticide free tulips to consumers. The bulbs were bio-dynamically grown in Holland and shipped to California to be organically grown in a greenhouse. Organic Bouquet, Novato, Calif., announced the availability of its 300,000-stem crop in January. The crop is valued at $420,000 with a retail price point of $6.99 for a 5-stem bunch. (Source: Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 30, No. 15) Making PowerPoint Files Smaller Has this happened to you -- you have a great PowerPoint file that you have created and after the presentation, someone asks you to e-mail the file to them. But, when you try from your computer you receive error messages that the file is too big. Marc Sulc, extension specialist, forage, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science shared a time-saving way to reduce PowerPoint files. After all the pictures and other objects have been imported, the size of the file can be reduced by reducing the size of the pictures. The steps to achieve this are: Select the picture or object Under the edit menu, choose "copy" With the picture or object still selected, choose "cut" under the edit menu Again, under the edit menu, choose "paste special" In the dialogue box, select "paste as JPEG" The picture or object will be reinserted into your slide. You may have to adjust the position after the pasting. This should help reduce the size of the file. For example, we used this method for one of the files e-mailed to agents. The original file was 2 MB and after applying this technique, the file became less than 900 K. Good luck! Pesticide Crop Watch Insecticides Dimethoate - Cheminova, in an agreement with EPA, on all labels for this product will delete all uses in and around residences or domestic dwellings, including home garden and home greenhouses. Also, usages in public or private buildings, including landscaping are deleted. Also deleted were housefly treatments on farm buildings and structures, farm animal quarters and manure piles. Di Syston (disulfoton) - Bayer sent a request to EPA to delete from the label the usage on dry beans, peas, lentils, poplars grown for pulp wood, sorghum, soybeans, tobacco and triticate. Malathion - Cheminova will no longer support usages on turf, so this usage will be removed from all labels. Nicotine - EPA has proposed to revoke residue tolerances for products that contain nicotine when used as an insecticide, since there are none left registered in the U.S. Orthene (acephate) Valent has label changes that include the dropping of all indoor residential uses including the use by pest control operators and the usage on residential turf. Turf uses can still be done on golf courses, sod farms and spot treatments for ant control. It can still be used on all its agricultural, nursery, landscape, ornamental and greenhouse uses. Also, it can still be used by pest control operators in commercial and industrial buildings. Savey 50WP (hexythiazox) - Gowan has added to their label the usage on plums, cranberries, tree nuts and pistachios. Success (spinosad) Dow AgroSciences has added to their label usage on strawberries as a foliar spray. Herbicides Plateau (imazapic) - BASF has received EPA registration to control grass weeds in Bermuda grass pastures. Some broadleaf weeds are also controlled. Observe a 7-day hazing restriction but no grazing restrictions. Fungicides Maneb - Griffin and others have decided due to re-registration costs the usage on golf courses and all homeowner usages will be removed from the label. Messenger (harpen protein) - Eden BioScience has added to their label the control of botrytis, bunch rot and powdery mildew on grapes and the control of speck and leaf spot on fruiting vegetables. Microthiol (sulfur) - Cerexagri has added to their label the control of leaf spot and powdery mildew on peas. Correction - Topsin-M (thiophanate-methyl) - Addition of pears, pistachios, celery and grapes on the label is pending. Miscellaneous Certis - The company has made an agreement with Ecogen to purchase all their B.t. products. Certis, which is the old Thermo Trilogy, will market them under their own name. Crop Life America - Name change for the old American Crop Protection Association (ACPA). It became effective 1-1-02 (Source for Pesticide Crop Watch: Agricultural Chemical News, Vol. 269) Upcoming Events Commercial New Applicator School March 13 - 14, 2002 at the Fawcett Center, OSU Campus Cancelled - March 13 - Video conference at the Southwest District Office, Vandalia Top of Page Return to Home