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POISONED PROFITS
- THE TOXIC ASSAULT ON OUR CHILDREN...READ
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LAWN GARDEN
PESTICIDE DIAZINON PHASED OUT
Today, EPA announced an
agreement to phase-out diazinon, one of the most widely
used pesticides in the United States, for indoor uses,
beginning in March 2001, and for all lawn, garden and
turf uses by December 2003.
"The Clinton-Gore
Administration continues to aggressively target for
elimination those pesticides that pose the greatest risk
to human health and the environment, and especially those
posing the greatest risk to children," said Carol M.
Browner, EPA Administrator. "The action we are
taking today is another major step toward ensuring that
all Americans can enjoy greater safety from exposure to
harmful pesticides."
"Today's action will
significantly eliminate the vast majority of
organophosphate insecticide products in and around the
home, and by implementing this phase-out, it will help
encourage consumers to move to safer pest control
practice," said Browner.
Diazinon is the most
widely used pesticide by homeowners on lawns, and is one
of the most widely used pesticide ingredients for
application around the home and in gardens. It is used to
control insects and grub worms. The agreement reached
today with the manufacturers, Syngenta and Makhteshim
Agan, will eliminate 75 percent of the use which amounts
to more than 11 million pounds of the pesticide used
annually.
EPA is taking this action
under the Food Quality Protection Act, which President
Clinton signed into law in 1996 after the Administration
helped lead the way for the new, tougher national
pesticide law. Since then, EPA has targeted a large group
of older, riskier pesticides called organophosphates for
review because they pose the greatest potential risk to
children. In August of 1999, for example, EPA announced
action against methyl parathion and azinphos methyl to
protect children from pesticide residues in food. The
Agency reached an agreement to halt by December 2000 the
manufacture of chlorpyrifos, or Dursban, for nearly all
residential uses. Diazinon - used in homes, and on lawns
and gardens - is the latest organophosphate to be phased
out. Specifically, the terms of the agreement implement
the following phase-out schedules:
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For all lawn, garden
and turf uses, manufacturing stops in June 2003;
all sales and distribution to retailers ends in
August 2003. Further, the company will implement
a product recovery program in 2004 to complete
the phase out of the product.
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Additionally, as part
of the phase out, for all lawn, garden, and turf
uses, the agreement ratchets down the
manufacturing amounts. Specifically, for 2002,
there will be a 25 percent decrease in
production; and for 2003, there will be a 50
percent decrease in production.
Organophosphates can
affect the nervous system. The effects from diazinon vary
depending on the dose, but symptoms from over-exposure
can include nausea, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and
general weakness. Today's action also represents an
important step for the environment. Diazinon's use on
turf poses a risk to birds, and it is one of the most
commonly found pesticides in air, rain, and drinking and
surface water.
It is legal to purchase
and use diazinon products according to label directions
and precautions. Consumers should take special care to
always read and follow the label directions and
precautions. If consumers choose to discontinue use, they
should contact their state or local hazardous waste
disposal program or the local solid waste collection
service for information on proper disposal.
Diazinon Summary
December 5,
2000
Use/Usage:
Over 13 million lbs of diazinon
are applied annually. Use is on a variety of
agricultural corps and livestock (about 20% of
usage), on turf and for residential control of
various insects indoors and outdoors (about 80% of
usage). For non-ag use, the largest share is in
homeowner outdoor insect control for turf and gardens
(39%). Other large usage is in lawn care operators
(19%) and pest control operators (11%). Indoor
homeowner use is also registered. California, Texas
and Florida are states with the most significant
usage. Diazinon is about 1% of the Pest Control
Operator (PCO) market for indoor insecticides.
Formulations:
Diazinon is registered as dust,
granules, wettable powders, seed dressings,
emulsifiable solutions, impregnated materials,
encapsulated materials, concentrates and ready-to-
use solutions.
Toxicity:
Diazinon endpoints are based on
plasma, red blood cell and/or brain cholinesterase
inhibition for all exposure routes and durations.
Because route specific toxicity studies are
available, dermal and inhalation absorption factors
are not necessary. For inhalation, the standard
uncertainty factor of 100 was applied with an extra
3X uncertainty factor due to the lack of a NOAEL in a
rat 21-day inhalation study. Therefore, for
inhalation exposures of all durations, an MOE of 300
is acceptable. For dermal short-term exposure, the
target MOE of 100 is acceptable. For intermediate-
and long-term dermal exposure, a 3X safety factor was
added to account for the extrapolation from a 21-day
dermal exposure to a longer term exposure. For
intermediate- and long-term dermal exposure, a target
MOE of 300 is acceptable.
Food Risks:
Acute and chronic dietary risk
from food are acceptable (highest sub-population is
63% for acute and 22% for chronic (children 1-6 years
old).
Water Risks:
Diazinon parent is moderately
mobile and persistent. Based on monitoring data,
there is no risk concern for either groundwater or
surface derived drinking water exposure for chronic
or acute. Modeling data indicate a possible concern
for infants and children age 1-6 (acute), and
children 1-6 and females age 13+ (chronic) from
surface derived drinking water only. Water estimates
do not include metabolites, since toxicity and
monitoring data for these are lacking.
Residential Risks:
The Agency has concerns for
potential childrens' exposures in the home. Potential
routes of exposure for children may include
inhalation of vapors and airborne particles and
dermal contact.
Occupational Risks:
Occupational
"handler" exposure to diazinon can occur
during mixing, loading and application activities.
Postapplication exposure may occur during scouting,
irrigation, cultivation, harvesting and handling
seeds. The majority of occupational risk estimates
for handlers exposed to diazinon exceed the Agency's
level of concern, even with personal protective
equipment (PPE) and/or engineering controls. The
majority of postapplication exposures exceed EPA's
level of concern at the currently established
restricted entry interval (REI) of 24 hours.
Ecological Risks:
Diazinon is highly toxic to
birds, mammals, honey bees and other beneficial
insects. It is also very highly toxic to freshwater
fish and invertebrates following acute exposure. The
endangered species levels of concern are exceeded for
terrestrial wildlife, aquatic life and terrestrial
plants.
Incidents:
Diazinon is one of the leading
causes of acute insecticide poisoning for humans and
wildlife. For humans, the rate of incidents is not
high relative to its large volume of usage. The
majority of incidents occur in the home. It also is
one of the top causes of bird kill incidents.
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