BackgroundBy statute or regulation in the United States and elsewhere, pesticide ingredients are divided into two categories: active and inert (sometimes referred to as other ingredients, adjuvants, or coformulants). Despite their name, inert ingredients may be biologically or chemically active and are labeled inert only because of their function in the formulated product. Most of the tests required to register a pesticide are performed with the active ingredient alone, not the full pesticide formulation. Inert ingredients are generally not identified on product labels and are often claimed to be confidential business information.ObjectivesIn this commentary, we describe the shortcomings of the current procedures for assessing the hazards of pesticide formulations and demonstrate that inert ingredients can increase the toxicity of and potential exposure to pesticide formulations.DiscussionInert ingredients can increase the ability of pesticide formulations to affect significant toxicologic end points, including developmental neurotoxicity, genotoxicity, and disruption of hormone function. They can also increase exposure by increasing dermal absorption, decreasing the efficacy of protective clothing, and increasing environmental mobility and persistence. Inert ingredients can increase the phytotoxicity of pesticide formulations as well as the toxicity to fish, amphibians, and microorganisms.ConclusionsPesticide registration should require full assessment of formulations. Evaluations of pesticides under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and similar statutes should include impact assessment of formulations. Environmental monitoring for pesticides should include inert ingredients. To enable independent research and risk assessment, inert ingredients should be identified on product labels.
Pesticide Risk Indicators (PRIs) are widely used to evaluate and compare the potential health and environmental risks of pesticide use and to guide pest control policies and practices. They are applied to agricultural, landscape and structural pest management by governmental agencies, private institutions and individuals. PRIs typically assess only the potential risks associated with the active ingredients because, with few exceptions, pesticide manufacturers disclose only the identity of the active ingredients which generally comprise only a minor portion of pesticide products. We show that when inert ingredients are identified and assessed by the same process as the active ingredient, the product specific risk can be much greater than that calculated for the active ingredient alone. To maintain transparency in risk assessment, all those who develop and apply PRIs or make decisions based on their output, should clearly disclose and discuss the limitations of the method.
Toxocara canis eggs were found in the feces of 33 of 246 dogs and in two of 629 soil samples from 32 public parks in Essex County, New Jersey. Stool samples collected from these areas were free of T. canis eggs. The findings suggest that contamination of soil in public parks with T. canis eggs is not an important factor in the transmission of visceral larva migrans in this county.
Pesticides used to maintain golf course turf can threaten ground water. This concern is particularly important in most of New York's Long Island, where generally sandy soils overlie a sole source aquifer. This study uses two methods to evaluate the potential for pesticides that are commonly used on Long Island's golf courses to leach to ground water.
Adapting the Pesticide Root Zone Model (PRZM). Release 1. for dense turf and applying site‐specific soil data, certain pesticides, including metalaxyl and trichlorfon, are identified as potential problem leachers. PRZM simulations also identify the Long Island soils, including the sandy Plymouth and Carver soils, which arc most vulnerable to leaching.
When adequate input data for PRZM is unavailable, the ground water ubiquity score (GUS) method may be useful. GUS teachability classifications of pesticides commonly applied on Long Island golf courses, and of pesticides actually detected in ground water samples taken on Long Island, agree with PRZM predictions and the field data. The GUS method is applied to the evaluation of the leaching potential of pesticide degradation products (DCPA, maneb, and mancozeb metabolites), and the degradation products are shown to be a greater threat to ground water than their parent compounds.
These methods are potentially useful in designing ground water monitoring programs and for guiding the pesticide use and selection decisions of golf course managers.
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