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PANUPS: Methomyl Exports from U.S.
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P A N U P S
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Pesticide Action Network
North America
Updates Service
http://www.panna.org/panna/
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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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