Pesticide Perceptions

Voluntary Talking Pesticide Labels Could Be Answer To Misuse Problems

Pesticide residential consumer users and professional agricultural use product applicators aren't reading product labels as frequently or as carefully as they should, EPA's OPP has concluded, and thinks it may have a solution to the problem -- talking labels.

Last week, Laura Dye of EPA OPP's Environmental Fate and Effects Division briefed members of the State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group on a new OPP partnership program to pioneer "audio Technology" for agriculture and consumer pesticide manufacturers to voluntarily add to their products. The pesticide office with the help of a few pesticide, computer chip, recording and battery companies has developed some prototype talking labels for pesticide aerosol foggers and larger size agricultural pesticide containers.

The prototypes themselves contain embossed labels with 20 to 45 second recorded, battery operated computer chip messages that are triggered and play directly before the product is used -- for example, when a cap is removed. In language as succinct as possible, the messages in English and in Spanish include the name of the product, a "please read the label in entirety before use" message, and a discussion of precautionary statements from the manufacturer, such as human health hazards, physical chemical hazards and environmental hazards.

Dye also said she would be introducing the products and the concept behind the talking labels at a Dec. 17 meeting for interested parties and the general public in Arlington, Va., at the Crystal City Marriott Hotel. She expects to send out invitations "within the next couple of weeks" to the pesticide community and interested government agencies FDA, USDA, OSHA and CPSC, she said. Dye stressed that she "wants a lot of input" from the agencies and from manufacturers, and advice on whether talking labels can work in the real world.

An OPP Ecological Effects branch scientist, Alvaro Yamhure, is credited with coming up with the idea of the talking label, which he offered at an internal OPP February 1995 brainstorming session on ways of obtaining greater compliance by pesticide applicators regarding correct application and use of pesticides. Participants at the meeting were concerned about the results of a survey by Nebraska agriculture engineers reported in fall 1994 in Chemical Application Journal that found that two out of every three pesticide applicators were making significant application errors the result of inaccurate calibration, incorrect mixing, worn equipment and failure to read the product label. According to the article by Larry Reichenberger, "The Billion-Dollar Blunder," these mistakes in application were costing farmers from $2 to $12 per acre in added chemical expense, potential crop damage and threatened weed competition.

The findings were bolstered by EPA's own surveys in the late 1980's and early 1990's, particularly in Region VI, that found that a large portion of the pesticide user community does not: 1) read the label prior to applications, 2) follow the directions for use, resulting in both over and under application of pesticides, and 3) communicate information about the pesticide being applied in the agricultural field to workers. Dye said that OPP reviews and issues approximately 3,500 pesticide label amendments per year, and that if users are not reading the labels, which she said was a special problem with products they are familiar with, they may be missing important new safety information.

What is true about pesticide agricultural product applicators is also true of home-use pesticide consumers, Dye said if they are familiar with a product, they don't bother to read the label. Because of this, consumers sometimes don't catch any warning statements that might protect them against explosion hazards, in the case of aerosol foggers set off to close to gas stoves, or health protection measures, such as cleaning surfaces after pesticide applications to prevent tainting of food, proper ventilation measures during use, or "keep out of reach of children" statements. EPA has evidence from reports put out by poison control centers, pesticide databases run by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and FIFRA Section 6(a)(2) reports on pesticide adverse effects that consumers are misusing pesticides, frequently because they don't read the label, Dye said.

The reasons why people don't read labels are varied, she remarked. Some people are visually impaired, some read at only an eight-grade level and don't understand the labels, and 13% of the population is bilingual, with Spanish being a preferred language. Some SFIREG meeting participants told Dye that the label reading problems may stem from sheer laziness, and one challenged her, "If they don't follow the written directions on the label now, what makes you think they'll follow verbal directions?"

Nonetheless, Dye and others at EPA think that talking labels are an idea whose time has come, now that the technology is available to produce the talking devices relatively cheaply. Cost estimates she provided for consumer pesticides ranged from an additional $2 per can for a small pilot project of a million products, to 2 cents per can if 50 million were produced. For agriculture use pesticides, the cost could add up to $10 per five gallon container. While Dye admitted that consumers may not be willing to pay the extra $2 per can, "Two cents would probably be reasonable,: she remarked.

At the SFIREG meeting, Dye thanked several companies for helping her develop the prototypes. They included Sandoz, which donated fogger containers; Zoecon, which donated agricultural pesticides; Energizer Batteries, Georgia, for the battery technology; Spacemark International, which has been developing components and housing for recordings; Information Storage Devices, Sacramento, for the computer chips and Right On Recordings, Gaithersburg, Md., for the recording studio and equipment. OPP scientist Yamhure, who originated the whole talking label concept and happens to speak Spanish, was the voice behind the first recording for the prototypes, Dye said.

For more information about the talking label and the Dec. 17 meeting, readers should look for and upcoming notice in the Federal Register. For further information, contact Laura Dye, EPA OPP Environmental Fate and Effects Division, at 703-305-6451.

(Source: P&TCN Vol. 14, No. 51, October 16, 1996)

Law

Illegal Methyl-Parathion Use Causes Big Trouble

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) --
Hundreds of houses in southeastern Mississippi may have to be decontaminated because unlicensed exterminators sprayed them with a cotton pesticide that can kill people when used indoors.

Several people have reported becoming sick after their homes were sprayed. No deaths or hospitalizations have been reported.

Dock Eatman and Paul Walls Sr., both 61, sprayed methyl parathion in homes and businesses to kill roaches and other pests for at least five years, authorities said. They were arrested Friday on misdemeanor charges of operating an unlicensed pest control business. More charges are pending.

Used indoors, methyl parathion can remain highly toxic for months or years. It can sicken or kill by attacking the central nervous system. Children are particularly vulnerable; as little as a teaspoon can be lethal.

Eaton said he didn't know the chemical was deadly. "If I had known, I wouldn't have sprayed my house," he said Wednesday.

The extent of the contamination is not yet known. More than 200 homes are being tested, and 32 families whose homes had the highest contamination seen so far have been moved to hotels, said Hagen Thompson, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency response team.

Five Jackson County day-care centers, a motel and a restaurant also were closed while awaiting cleanup.

Denise Wainwright, her husband and their two daughters were forced to move out of their mobile home in Gautier to a hotel. She said her home had been sprayed five to seven times by one of the men. "I know we will be spending the holidays here. It's sad," she said.

The government-sponsored cleanup begins next month. Federal and state officials do not believe any of the contaminated homes or businesses will have to be destroyed, said Warren Dixon, another EPA spokesman. The cleanup could involve removing carpet and drywall in some cases.

"It's going to be a lot of work, but these homes will be inhabitable again,'' Dixon said.

He said the cost of the cleanup depends on the extent of contamination, but estimates run as high as $50 million. A hot line for residents whose homes were sprayed by the two men has logged over 900 calls, although all may not be linked to them, Thompson said.

A similar incident in Ohio in 1994 affected 237 homes.In Mississippi, two children died in Tunica County in 1984 and five other children were sickened after a home was treated with methyl parathion.

The following information was obtained from the North Dakota Department of Agriculture database. These are the inspection and enforcement actions for fiscal year 1996. The pesticide division's fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30. The 1997 fiscal year began on October 1, 1996.

----------------------------------------
				1996 
			     Fiscal Year
----------------------------------------
Ag follow-up (complaints)	 44
Non-ag follow-up (complaints)	 10
Producer establishment 
  (bulk chemical sales)		 76
Applicator records		306
Restricted use dealer sales	330
Private records			  9
Non-ag use inspections		 18
Ag use inspections		 50
Certification revocations	  0
Warnings			 92
Violations			 84
Penalties assessed		 67
----------------------------------------

The Spanish portion of warning signs can be replace with another language that is read by the largest group of workers at the site who do not read English. The warning sign must be in the same format as required by regulations and be legible and visible.

By October 23, 1996, all pesticides that have been sold or distributed must bear final, printed, WPS-complying replacement labeling. Supplemental product replacement labeling will not be allowed after this date.

Products may be relabeled by replacing existing labeling with final WPS-complying replacement labeling supplied by the registrant of the product.

Pet pesticide manufacturers must add labeling statements to pesticide products registered for use on cats and dogs that will detail the species, age and condition of the pet for which the pesticide is intended, as well as any adverse effects information and cholinesterase-inhibiting characteristics of the product, under EPA's new PR-Notice 96-6.

According to the notice, EPA has received reports of adverse reactions resulting from the application of various types of pesticide products registered for use on dogs and cats. "While most of the reports involve exposure to cats, some involve exposure to dogs and humans," the notice said. It added that, based on these adverse effects, "The agency believes that registrants should revise the product labels for such products to include additional use directions and other statements described in this notice."

The PR-Notice asks registrants to add the following items to labels:

• directions to read entire label before use.
• a clear indication of registered species (cat or dog or both).
• a clear indication of the minimum age of the animal.
• a statement concerning debilitated, aged, pregnant or nursing animals.
• all adverse reaction information
• information for medicated animals.
• a statement pertaining to cholinesterase inhibitors.
• a "first aid" heading instead of "statement of practical treatment".
• a telephone number for an Animal Poison Control Center, company or other place that consumers may call for receiving information about proper use of the product or emergencies.

EPA also specified in the notice the procedures for registrants who need to change their labels to comply with 96-6. Manufacturers who are adopting the exact wording used in the PR-Notice should submit a notification for each product to EPA. Those amending labels to modify the statements from language supplied in 96-6 should submit an application for amended registration.

For more information, contact EPA OPP's Labeling Unite at 703-308-8641.

(Source: P&TCN Vol. 24, No. 52, October 23, 1996)