Subject: U.S. to phase out home, garden use of diazinon-----
Date: Sat, 09 Dec 2000 10:00:46 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State
of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker, I
thought you might like to read an article entitled: UPDATE 2-U.S. to phase out home, garden use of diazinon.
WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Diazinon, one of the most
widely used pesticides in the United States, will be phased out of home and
garden use by 2004 to reduce Americans' exposure to the potentially harmful
insecticide, the government said on Tuesday.
The chemical still would be be available for some
agricultural uses. Consumer and environmental groups called for a total ban on
the insect pest and grub worm killer.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced an
agreement with Syngenta AG and Makhteshim Agan to gradually end home and
garden use, which accounts for 75 percent of the 11 million pounds (5 million
kg) applied each year.
Under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which
required review of all pesticide exposure limits, EPA has targeted diazinon
and other organophosphate pesticides for review because they post the greatest
potential risk to children.
Organophosphates are a group of chemicals derived from
nerve gas agents developed during World War Two. Symptoms of overexposure can
include nausea, headaches, dizziness, diarrhea and general weakness. Children
are considered especially vulnerable because their systems are developing.
EPA administrator Carol Browner said the phase-out ``will
significantly eliminate the vast majority of organophosphate insecticide
products in and around the home and...will help encourage consumers to move to
safer pest control practices.''
Used in everything from household ant and roach killers
to grub-killing lawn sprays, diazinon is marketed under such brands as Ortho,
Spectracide and Real-Kill.
``Children's exposure is a major concern with diazinon,''
said Adam Goldberg of Consumers Union. The consumer group said it was used on
foods, such as grapes, green beans, peaches and green, leafy vegetables, as
well as lawns, parks and other areas where children play.
CU, the National Coalition Against Misuse of Pesticides
and other environmental groups urged a ban on the pesticide overall.
``Nothing short of a ban on diazinon will protect the
public from the chemical's adverse effects to the nervous system,'' said Jay
Feldman of NCAMP. Safer alternative chemicals were available, he said.
In a statement, Syngenta Crop Protection USA, a unit of
Swiss-based Sygenta, said tests showed diazinon was
safe, but that declining
profit margins had prompted its withdrawal from the diazinon market.
(When will you "regulators" enforce the federal law that
clearly states that it is illegal to say even the labeled use of any
"registered" POISON is "safe"?)
``Although it continues to be an effective product, we
recognize that diazinon is at the end of its product life cycle,'' Syngenta
official Eileen Watson said.
The agreement between EPA and the two makers called for:
--canceling approval for diazinon in household uses on March 2001 and
all retail sales must stop by December 2002.
--manufacturing of the pesticide for lawn, garden and turf uses will
end in June 2003 with sales and distribution to retailers stopping in August
2003. Makers will implement a product recovery program in 2004 to assure phase
out of use.
--curtailing production of diazinon for lawn, garden and turf uses by
25 percent in 2002 and by 50 percent in 2003.
--beginning the process to cancel about 20 different uses of diazinon
on food crops. A farm group spokesman said diazinon was approved for about 60
crops.
Farm groups have complained the EPA review of chemicals
under the 1996 law targeted useful pesticides without assuring alternatives
were available to protect crop production.
Syngenta AG is a large global agribusiness with 20,000
employees in 50 countries and headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It was
formed in November 2000 from the agribusiness branch of Novartis and the
agrochemical businesses of AstraZeneca.
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Well Mr. Helliker, once again I return to my original
question: "When will it be
"legal" (in your opinion) to use safe and far more effective
(unregistered) alternatives to actually control pest problems in California?
Do you really want to continue to demand that only more
"registered" POISONS like this "banned" one (and other
"banned" POISONS) be used to "season" all of our food?
Your policies have insured that even our organic food is now
CONTAMINATED with your "registered" POISONS!
You may call it "drift or residue" - I prefer to call it
calculated CONTAMINATION/DEATH for profit!
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten
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