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PANUPS: Methomyl Exports from U.S.



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                   Pesticide Action Network 
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October 4, 1996

Exports of Methomyl Continue Unrestricted as EPA Places 
Control on Domestic Use

In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
made an agreement with DuPont Agricultural Products to reduce 
risks to American farmworkers from methomyl, an insecticide 
used on a variety of crops. The agreement calls for 
reductions of maximum use rates and number of applications, 
more restrictive precautions for inhalation and eye, skin and 
oral exposure, and longer intervals before workers can enter 
fields after the pesticide has been applied. The action was 
prompted by reports of poisonings in California and other 
areas of the country.

According to EPA, a final decision on whether methomyl is 
eligible for continued registration in the U.S. is expected 
in 1997. In the meantime, according to U.S. Customs shipping 
records analyzed by the Foundation for Advancements in 
Science and Education (FASE), methomyl is being exported at 
the rate of nearly three tons each day.

More than 7.9 million pounds of methomyl were exported 
between 1991 and 1994. Total exports of methomyl increased 
during the period, from 1.8 million pounds in 1991 to 2.3 
million pounds in 1994. The largest importers included Japan 
(1.9 million pounds), Taiwan (1.3 million pounds), Thailand 
(1.2 million pounds) and Singapore (1.2 million pounds).

Concerns about methomyl's acute toxicity are heightened for 
workers in the developing world. The recommended level of 
protection for application of the insecticide -- protective 
clothing, goggles and a mask or respirator -- is rarely seen 
in tropical regions. 

"These developments underscore the urgent need for export 
reform," said Carl Smith, Project Director for the FASE 
export survey. "Even if methomyl is banned in 1997, current 
U.S. law would place no restrictions on exporting it. In the 
meantime, the hazardous uses and application practices that 
have been forbidden in the U.S. will likely continue in 
developing countries."

Methomyl, with the trade name Lannate, was registered by the 
EPA in 1968. In 1972, EPA was mandated by Congress to review 
this registration as part of the agency's re-registration 
program for older pesticides. According to the 1995 annual 
report of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA has 
gathered the scientific data necessary for a final 
registration decision for only one third of all pesticides 
used in agriculture since 1972. (The number of actual 
decisions was not included in the report.)

"Aside from export issues, the lag of more than two decades 
in completing the evaluation of this and other pesticides is 
troubling," said Smith. "It's not as if methomyl was less 
toxic in 1972 than it is today. Unfortunately, in the case of 
this product, restrictions were forced not by laboratory 
findings but by the fact that workers were being harmed."

The FASE project began in 1990, in an attempt to monitor 
exports of U.S.-banned and other hazardous products to the 
developing world. The most recent FASE report reviews exports 
>from  U.S. ports between the years 1992 and 1994. Although 
nearly two-thirds of the pesticides shipped during this 
period were not identified by name in Customs shipping 
records, FASE identified at least 25 million pounds of 
pesticides whose use is forbidden in the U.S.

Source/contact: Carl Smith, FASE, 4801 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 
215, Los Angeles, CA, 90010;phone (213) 937-9911; fax (213) 
927-7440; email cesmth@aol.com

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