Editor’s note: The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following proposed measures to reduce exposures and risks associated with nine household-use rodenticides
WASHINGTON — EPA is proposing measures to reduce exposures and risks associated with nine household-use rodenticides. The Agency’s decision would minimize exposures to children and risks to wildlife from the use of rodenticides, while still allowing the general public and professional applicators access to a variety of effective and affordable rodent control products. Rodenticides are an important tool for public health pest control, including controlling mice and rats around the home, but current marketing and use practices have been associated with accidental exposures to thousands of children each year. These products also pose significant risks to non-target wildlife.
As part of the Agency’s program to ensure that all pesticides meet current health and safety standards, EPA is evaluating the following nine rodenticides concurrently to ensure that human health and ecological risk assessment and risk management approaches are consistent:
brodifacoum,
bromadiolone,
bromethalin,
chlorophacinone,
cholecalciferol,
difethialone,
diphacinone,
warfarin,
zinc phosphide.
EPA is proposing the following risk mitigation measures:
To mitigate ecological risks all bait products containing the active ingredients brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difethialone would be classified as restricted use pesticides.
To decrease the possibility of children’s exposure to rodenticide products used in homes all rodenticide bait products available for sale to consumers would be marketed only in tamper-resistant bait stations with solid bait blocks. We recognize that this requirement may result in modest price increases for consumers, but the estimated cost increases are outweighed by the health and social benefits of reducing childrens exposure to these chemicals.
To mitigate the risks associated with bait products containing any of these nine rodenticides certain additional restrictions and labeling improvements would be required.
On January 17, EPA’s Federal Register notice announcing the proposed decision will be available at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2007/January/Day-17/p351.htm and the Proposed Risk Mitigation Decision for Nine Rodenticides will be available at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0955. EPA is seeking public comment on the proposed decision until March 19, 2007. Additional information on Rodenticides is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/rodenticides .
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A MIXED BAG?
NPMA Senior Vice President Bob Rosenberg and NPMA Manager of Government Affairs Gene Harrington have been working on this issue for several years. The proposal to make all second generation, anti-coagulant rodenticides restricted-use means that these products would have to be applied by a certified applicator or working under the direct supervision a certified applicator. This could be both positive and negative for the industry, Rosenberg said. “A lot of PCOs don’t like using restricted use products, but it also means that homeowners won’t have access to those products. So it could give PCOs a little bit of a competitive advantage.”
Regarding EPA’s proposal that “all rodenticide bait products available for sale to consumers would be marketed only in tamper-resistant bait stations with solid bait blocks” Rosenberg said this issue is not of great concern to the industry. “Right now I don’t know of any consumer product that comes in a bait station. I imagine that manufacturers of consumer products are vocal in their opposition because it will drive cost of consumer products to the moon.” -- Brad Harbison