Chem-News January 1991
DATE: January 1991
TO: Those Interested in Pesticide Information
FROM: William G. Smith, Senior Extension Associate
INDEX
Page
Diazinon Product Labels for 1990-91 ................................... 1
Workshop Finds 2,4D Cancer Link "Far From Established" ................ 3
EPA Proposes Pesticide Storage Regulations ............................ 4
New Biocontrol for Two Serious Plant Diseases ......................... 5
Washington Apple Growers Sue NRD, CBS Over Alar Report ................ 6
USDA Scientists' Christmas Presents Could Be Pest-Killing Wasps ....... 6
Pesticide Briefs ...................................................... 8
Section 18 Updates for NYS ............................................ 9
CHEMNEWS MAILING LIST UPDATE .......................................... 9
* * * * * * * * * *
LABELING FOR CIBA-GEIGY'S DIAZINON PRODUCTS, 1990-1991. EPA GRANTS ONE YEAR
EXTENSION TO USE OLD LABELING
BACKGROUND: As a requirement under the EPA's 1987 Diazinon Data Call-In
and the 1988 Diazinon Registration Standard, all diazinon registrants were
required to make label revisions. Originally, all diazinon product produced
and released for shipment after August 30, 1990 was required to carry the
revised label. Product with old labeling already in the channels of trade
originally could be sold only until August 30, 1991.
CIBA-GEIGY revised its labels as required and received EPA approval.
However, the EPA was unable to review all other registrants' labels in time
for the August 10, 1990 released for shipment date. On August 23, 1990, the
EPA granted a one year extension of these dates:
The new released for shipment date is August 30, 1991 (products
produced after that date must bear the revised reregistration
labeling)
The new channels of trade date is August 30, 1992 (after that
date, diazinon products cannot be distributed or sold unless they
carry the revised label for reregistration)
In addition, EPA stated that even those registrants who already had
approval of their reregistration labeling could continue to use the previously
accepted label. This action was taken to prevent some registrants from having
a competitive advantage over another - this is because the reregistration
labeling does not include use on certain crops.
THE LABELS CIBA-GEIGY WILL BE USING IN 1990 AND 1991:
D-z-n Diazinon 14G -
This product was already packaged this summer with the reregistration
label; therefore, we will use the new labeling for this product. Note that
the product is restricted use and it does not include use on lawns, or
postemergence use on field corn.
D-z-n Diazinon 4E -
This product will also carry the new reregistration label which does not
differ significantly from the previous label. However, it is limited to home
lawns only - no commercial turf. This restriction enabled us to keep this
product as a general use product.
D-z-n Diazinon 50W -
We will not use the new labeling for this product until after August 30,
1991. The label in the CIBA-GEIGY 1990 sample label book is the copy we will
continue to use. This means that the product will still carry use on crops
which in 1991 will be dropped from this label:
sorghum, peanuts, forage grasses, cotton, tobacco, figs, filberts,
citrus, olives, dried beans and peas, watercress, alfalfa, clover,
trefoil, cowpeas, lespedeza, soybeans, bermudagrass, rangeland,
pasture, field corn (except seed treatment), and seed treatment for
dried peas and beans.
D-z-n Diazinon AG500 -
We will not use the new labeling for this product until August 30, 1991.
The label in the CIBA-GEIGY 1990 sample label book is the copy we will
continue to use. This means that the product will still carry use on crops
which in 1991 will be dropped from this label:
citrus, figs, filberts, olives, pecans, dried beans and peas,
watercress, alfalfa, clover, sorghum, tobacco, field corn, range,
pasture, and grassland, bermudagrass and forage grasses.
We hope this information will help to prevent some of the confusion which
may occur relative to diazinon use. If you have any questions, please call
Ms. Carolyn Bussey in the Regulatory Affairs Department at (919) 632-2838.
(Letter from John F. Ellis, Director, Biological Research)
WORKSHOP FINDS 2,4D CANCER LINK "FAR FROM ESTABLISHED"
The report from a workshop convened by the Harvard School of Public
Health calls the link between the herbicide 2,4D and cancer "far from
established." The report states that animal research provides little reason
to expect that 2,4D causes cancer in people and that studies of people
occupationally exposed to the herbicide, while suggesting a possible link, do
not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. The workshop made specific
recommendations for additional scientific research to clarify the situation.
The report summarizes the findings of a panel of 13 scientists convened
by Dr. John D. Graham of the Harvard School. The workshop, held October 17-
19, 1989, was sponsored by the National Association of Wheat Growers
Foundation through a grant by the Industry Task Force II on 2,4D Research
Data, a group of six companies sponsoring on-going research on the safety of
2,4D.
The workshop was called to consider the weight of evidence on a possible
link between the use of 2,4D and cancer. The report suggests that any risk
associated with the herbicide can be reduced if workers wear protective
equipment during mixing and application and change to clean clothes right
after use. The report also notes that alternative delivery systems now being
developed by manufacturers could greatly reduce applicator exposure in the
future.
As part of the workshop, panelists were asked to characterize 2,4D as a
"known,","probable," "possible," or"unlikely" cause of cancer or as a
"noncarcinogen." (These terms were used in their ordinary sense and not as a
reference to specific carcinogen classification categories used by any
regulatory agency.)
Of the 13 panelists, none considered 2,4D a known or probable cause of
cancer in people. The majority said it was "possible" that 2,4D could cause
cancer: one panelist felt this was a relatively strong possibility, but five
thought the possibility was relatively remote. Two panelists felt it was
"unlikely" that 2,4D could cause cancer in people. Several members felt that
the evidence was barely adequate to support any conclusion.
In arriving at these conclusions, the panel gave careful consideration to
the National Cancer Institute studies on Kansas and Nebraska farm workers.
The panel noted that these two well designed studies, conducted by the same
research team, found an association between occupational exposure to 2,4D and
a form of lymph cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, workshop
participants felt this association needs to be interpreted cautiously, first,
because other studies have not shown the same results, and, second, because
some factor other than 2,4D might be involved. (Harvard University, School of
Public Health).
EPA PROPOSES PESTICIDE STORAGE REGULATIONS
As authorized in the 1988 amendments to the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the U.S. Environmental Protections
Agency (EPA) is proposing regulations on the storage of pesticides. These
regulations are scheduled to become final in late 1991, with compliance
effective two years later.
The goal of the storage regulations is to provide minimum, reasonable
federal storage standards. The overall objectives of the storage regulations
are to minimize human exposure, improve fire protection, ensure safe and
effective spill management and cleanup, and establish good management
practices.
The proposed regulations contain minimum standards for all facilities
that store more than 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of pesticide products.
Industry surveys of facilities and practices reveal that many agrichemical
dealers and distributors meet or exceed the standards in the proposed
regulations. The intent is simply to achieve compliance by the segment of the
industry that does not currently meet these minimum standards.
To meet the general standards, pesticide storage facilities must be:
-- secured and posted with warning signs;
-- floored with sealed concrete to prevent seepage through hairline
cracks;
-- equipped with electricity, water and adequate ventilation;
-- equipped with two sets of personal protective clothing for spill
cleanup or other emergencies;
-- built to local fire protection codes;
-- provided with secondary containment for bulk storage.
The proposed regulations also require specific operational procedures for
all storage facilities. These procedures include accident prevention,
inspection of containers, employee training.
A key issue for the agency is determining who must comply with these
regulations. Currently, the agency is proposing to exclude any farm,
commercial applicator or their facility that sores less than 11,000 pounds of
pesticide products.
Another issue is the requirement for training. Concerns have been
raised by industry representatives during recent field trips that EPA
regulations potentially overlap with OSHA regulations causing confusion,
compliance difficulties, and excessive and duplicative training time for their
employees. If employers comply with other OSHA training requirements, should
they be exempt from EPA training requirements?
The agency welcomes comment on these issues, the proposed storage
regulations and their potential impact on the agrichemical industry. (By
Robert Denny, Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA)(Agrichemical Notes, 11/1990,
No. 145)
FUNGUS GETS EPA APPROVAL AS NEW BIOCONTROL FOR TWO SERIOUS PLANT DISEASES
WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 -- A naturally occurring beneficial fungus was
approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last week as a new biological
control for two plant diseases.
A strain of Gliocladium virens, discovered and researched in U.S.
Department of Agriculture laboratories, has been approved as a greenhouse
biological control for two diseases that cost growers more than $1 billion a
year. It is the first biocontrol fungus approved to control a plant disease
in the United States.
The USDA's Agricultural Research Service invented and patented technology
for formulating the Gliocladium into easily applied pellets. W.R. Grace & Co.
was granted an exclusive license by ARS for its use, and then, in cooperation
with ARS scientists, has further developed the technology.
"Grace hopes to have a product on the market in two years," said Francois
P. van Remoortere, president of the Grace Research Division.
The two fungi Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium ultimum, cause diseases
called ''damping off," which rots seeds, seedlings and cuttings.
"Almost any seed or seedling is vulnerable to attack" by these fungi,
which can destroy 10 to 30 percent of a crop, .said Robert D. Lumsden, plant
pathologist with the federal research agency.
Among damping off's victims: geraniums, snapdragons, chrysanthemums,
celosia, poinsettias, cotton, corn, beans and soybeans.
In tests done by Lumsden and ARS plant pathologist James C. Locke,
Gliocladium reduced -- by 80 to 95 percent -- plant loss caused by the fungi,
results similar to those obtained with chemical fungicides.
The scientists hope that, by selecting better stains of the fungus or
improving the nutrients in the pellet, the biocontrol can consistently reduce
damage by 95 to 100 percent.
Today's approval allows Gliocladium's use on any plants grown in a green
house -- including ornamentals and edibles like tomatoes, cabbage or broccoli.
Grace may seek registration for outdoor use of the biocontrol fungus as
markets open up, according to van Remoortere.
Resembling granular fertilizer, the pellets are made of dormant fungal
spores, wheat bran and alginate -- a natural gel-like material that binds the
particle together.
When the pellets are moistened, the spores germinate and the fungus
multiplies and controls the disease.
Gliocladium is a naturally occurring organism that was isolated from
Maryland soil by scientists at Beltsville's Biocontrol of Plant Diseases
Laboratory in the early 1980's.
Chemist William J. Colmick, Jr., with an ARS laboratory in New Orleans,
La., originally developed the alginate pellet formulation to encapsulate
herbicides to kill weeds on top of the soil.
Soil scientist Jack A. Lewis and plant pathologists George C. Papavizas
and Deborah Fravel, all at Beltsville, were awarded ARS patents for their part
in adapting the alginate process for biocontrol fungi in the soil.
"One of the keys to making this product effective involved mass producing
the fungus and formulating it into pellets," said James F. Walter, manager of
biochemical engineering at the Grace Washington Research Center in Columbia,
Md. This product represents the first in a series of biological control
agents being developed by Grace in collaboration with ARS. (Jessica Morrison
Silva [301] 344-3927)
WASHINGTON APPLE GROWERS SUE NRD, CBS OVER ALAR REPORT
A class action suit was filed last week by Washington apple growers
against the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), CBS and "60 Minutes" and
others over the NRDC's television report on Alar, "Intolerable Risk:
Pesticides in Our Children's Food". The complaint maintains that the
defendants "have disparaged the plaintiffs' red apples by communication or
publication of false, misleading, and scientifically unreliable statements
about red apples, with reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of such
statements," resulting in "sustained serious economic loss". Millions of
dollars are being sought by the suit. (Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News,
Dec. 5,1990)
USDA SCIENTISTS' CHRISTMAS PRESENTS COULD BE PEST-KILLING WASPS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 -- A Soviet scientist played Santa Claus when he flew
here last week to sign a new accord on joint Soviet-U.S. Department of
Agriculture explorations in 1991 for natural enemies of insect pests.
Nikolai Popov of Kishinev, Moldavia, brought hundreds of larvae of the
apple codling moth for scientists at USDA's Agricultural Research Service.
ARS scientists hope the larvae contain parasitic wasps that can get the
upper hand on the moth, the major pest of apples in the U.S.
"This pest is the proverbial 'worm in the apple,"' said Richard Soper of
ARS. "But parasitic wasps lay their eggs on or inside the worm. Young wasps
that emerge from the eggs then feed on the worm."
The wasps don't sting people or animals, added Soper. Based in
Beltsville, Md., he is national program leader for ARS research on natural or
biological pest controls.
Friday, the 1991 exploration agreement was signed in Beltsville by Popov
and David Kincaid, ARS director of international activities. Popov is vice-
director of the USSR's All-Union Institute of Biological Methods in Plant
Protection in Kishinev.
The accord provides for joint explorations to the following areas:
* The eastern USSR for natural enemies of the Russian wheat aphid -- a
pest of cereal grains that has spread through the western U.S. since its first
discovery in this country, in Texas, in 1986.
* The region of Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, USSR, for parasites of pear psylla
and apple codling moths. Alma Ata, believed to be a native region of apple
and pear trees, is a promising place to search for natural enemies of pests
that attack these trees.
* The American southwest for natural enemies of Colorado potato beetles.
"These are pests of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and sweet peppers in both
countries," Soper said, "and they have developed considerable resistance to
chemical insecticides."
* Missouri, Arkansas and the northeastern U.S. for natural enemies of
fall webworm -- a major pest of young fruit tree orchards and ornamental trees
in the Soviet Union, according to Popov.
Popov was met Thursday (Dec. 20) at Washington's National Airport by
Soper and Beltsville entomologist Jack Coulson. That afternoon in Beltsville,
Coulson gave the moth larvae to Kenneth Swan of the ARS Beneficial Insects
Introduction Research Laboratory in Newark, Del.
Swan drove the larvae to Newark, where the lab has an insect quarantine
facility. Any wasps that emerge from the larvae will be kept there until
their identities are confirmed, he said.
About ten of the larvae actually are dead "mummies" that contain Elasmus
albipennis wasps reared in a lab at the Kishinev institute.
The rest of the moth larvae -- 200 to 400, said Swan -- were collected
from traps in various USSR locations last summer. The traps were placed by
ARS entomologists Thomas Unruh of Yakima, Wash., and Herfried Hoyer of
Behoust, France. These may contain other promising parasites, Unruh said.
When the wasps clear quarantine and a bigger supply is reared at Newark,
Soper said, they will likely be sent to Unruh for studies at the ARS Fruit and
Vegetable Insect Research Unit in Yakima.
"It's always an open question whether a potential biocontrol agent will
prove useful," Unruh said. "But if any of the parasitic wasps pass muster,
they could give apple growers another alternative to using insecticides."
(Jim De Quattro [301]344-3648, USDA Selected Speeches and News Releases, Dec.
20, 1990 - Jan. 2, 1991)
PESTICIDE BRIEFS
*First diazinon product becomes restricted use. Effective 6/6/90, Dozon
Diazinon 14G (CIBA-GEIGY) became a restricted use product . The label has
been changed to eliminate all uses on turf, including home lawns,
postemergence use on field corn. (Letter from Ciba Geigy, 11/8/90)
*The NYSDEC has approved a 2(ee) recommendation for the use of
methamidophos (Monitor 4, EPA Reg. No. 3125-280 and Monitor 4 Spray, EPA Reg.
No. 59639-56) at the reduced application rate of 1-2 pt/acre to control potato
leafhoppers and potato-infesting aphids.
*The written 2(ee) recommendation must be in the possession of the user
at the time of application. (Letter from M. DuBois, NYSDEC, 11/20/90)
SECTION 18, EMERGENCY EXEMPTION UPDATE FOR NEW YORK STATE
Emergency Exemptions Granted to New York by the Environmental Protection
Agency:
-- ProGro on onion seed for smut control
Emergency Exemptions sent to the NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) for approval:
-- Trigard for onion maggot control in dry bulb onions
-- Sodium fluoaluminate (Cryolite) for Colorado Potato Beetle control
on potatoes
-- Prowl for weed control in onions
-- Goal for use under clear plastic to control weeds in cucurbits
-- Avermectin on pears to control pear psylla
(W.G. Smith, Chemicals-Pesticides Program)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"CHEM-NEWSLETTER"
MAILING LIST
UPDATE
If we do not hear from you by February 28, 1991,
your name will be removed from the mailing list.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you would like to continue receiving the "Newsletter," kindly fill in the
information below.
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Please Check One: Campus ________ Pouch/County ________ Other ________
ADDRESS: (Please be sure to include your ZIP CODE if 1st class mail)
RETURN TO:
WILLIAM G. SMITH
CHEMICALS-PESTICIDES PROGRAM
5123 COMSTOCK HALL
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NY 14853
Disclaimer: Please read
the pesticide label prior to use. The information contained at this web
site is not a substitute for a pesticide label. Trade names used herein
are for convenience only; no endorsement of products is intended, nor is
criticism of unnamed products implied. Most of this information is historical
in nature and may no longer be applicable.
To Top
For more information relative to pesticides and their use in New York State, please contact the PMEP staff at:
| |
5123 Comstock Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-0901
(607) 255-1866
|
|
 |
This site is supported, in part, by funding from the
 |
Questions regarding the development of this web site should be directed to the
PMEP Webmaster
