United States pesticide regulation

Carter, E. P. Betz, D. O. Jr. Mitchell C. T. Annotated index of registered fungicides and nematicides their uses in the United States Pesticides Regulation Division, Agricultural Research Service U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1969. 

Pesticides are more closely regulated than other chemicals because pesticides are intentiaHy appHed in the environment, often repeatedly at relatively high rates. In the United States, pesticides are regulated under the federal Insecticide, fungicide and Rodenticide Act (EIERA), and residues from uses of pesticides in food or feed crops are regulated under Sections 408 and 409 of the federal food, Dmg and Cosmetics Act (EEDCA). 

The role of the TSCA is to identify all commercially manufactured chemicals that come in contact with the general population and then to regulate the chemicals, based on their characteristics. All newly created chemicals are reviewed and approved before they can be manufactured in or imported into the United States. Although over a million chemicals are known to exist, less than 100,000 are commercially produced in or imported into the United States. Pesticides, tobacco, drugs, food products, cosmetics, and certain nuclear materials are excluded from the TSCA and are regulated under separate laws. 

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is the main statute under which all pesticides are distributed and sold in the United States. Federal regulation of pesticides started with the Insecticide Act of 1910, which was directed primarily toward protecting consumers from fraudulent pesticide products it remained the major law governing pesticide products for 37 years. The Insecticide Act was essentially a labeling statute and did not require registration of products or establish any significant safety standards. 

The manufacture and use of any chemical product depends on technical, economic and social factors and the interrelationship, and often the conflicting interplay, between these. It is in the area of pesticides that the influence of social factors has had the greatest impact, with the possible sole exception of pharmaceuticals. Indeed, agrochemicals have been described as the most highly regulated sector of the chemical industry. Since pesticides are by definition toxic (to the pest), it is reasonable that some control should be exercised over their use. In the United States pesticides cannot be marketed until they have been cleared and approved by the EPA, i.e. there is a legal obligation. 

The FDA has pubhshed methods for the deterrnination of residual solvents in spice extracts such as oleoresins and has limited the concentrations of those specific solvents that are permitted. Chlorinated hydrocarbons and benzene have been almost completely removed from use as extracting solvents in the United States their use continues overseas where toxicity regulations are less stringent. The presence of pesticides or herbicides in spices is rigidly controHed by the FDA. 

In addition to conventional pesticides such as insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, there are other chemicals classified as pesticides and regulated under FIFRA. These chemicals include wood preservatives, disinfectants (excluding chlorine), and sulfur. In the United States these chemicals have aimual usage of about 500,000 t, which is equal to conventional pesticides. 

Under current regulations, chemicals allowed for use in various European countries (Table 3) are either fully Hcensed for aquacultural use (oxytetracycline, oxolinic acid) or can be prescribed by veterinarians if they are Hcensed for use on other food animals (14—16). In addition, previously unHcensed chemicals that are appHed to the water (topicals) may now be used under a grandfather clause if no one questions their safety. The question of whether a chemical is a medicine or a pesticide has also been addressed. Eor example, dichlorvos (Nuvan 500 EC) was initially designated as a pesticide in the United Kingdom, but was later categorized as a medicine. A similar product, trichlorfon (Masoten), was treated the same way in the United States. 

J., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, personal communication, 1989). The United States has fewer recorded pesticide poisonings per unit weight of applied pesticide than in other countries. For Instance, the U.S. has only about l/50th the number of world poisonings but uses about one-fifth of all the pesticide used in the world. Thus, it appears that the U.S. program to regulate the use of pesticides is more effective than in most parts of the world. 

Fluorescent lamps, fluorescent lamp ballasts, batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing thermostats, and other mercury-containing equipment are being singled out for special consideration. Specifically, these electrical and electronic wastes outfall into a regulated category called universal wastes in the United States. 

In the United States, the Universal Waste Regulations have so far streamlined the hazardous waste management standards for the above U.S. Federal universal wastes (batteries, pesticides, thermostats, and lamps). The regulations govern the collection and management of these widely generated wastes. This facilitates environmentally sound collection and increases the proper recycling or treatment of the universal wastes mentioned above. 

Pesticide mobility studies, 18 546 Pesticide registration requirements, in the United States, 18 543-550 Pesticide regulation, 18 524, 536-543. See also Pesticide regulations role of international organizations in,... 

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report Intolerable Risk Pesticides in Our Children s Food focused on the increased risk of the adverse effects of pesticides on children. This was in part because of the smaller size of the child relative to the adult and because of different food consumption practices. Relative to their size, children eat, drink, and breathe more than adults in part because they are growing. The use and regulation of pesticides illustrate the complexities of risk analysis and risk management and the difficulties in determining an acceptable level of exposure with acceptable risks. In the United States approximately 1 billion pounds of pesticides (with about 600 different active ingredients) are used annually in the agricultural sector, and worldwide approximately 4 billion pounds are used. There are a range of human health and environmental health effects associated with the use of pesticides. 

---