Paraquat Decision Drops       08/02 16:16

   EPA Finalizes Paraquat Registration, OKs Aerial Applications for Now

   EPA will permit aerial applications of paraquat, albeit with expanded buffer 
requirements and acreage limits, the agency said in its finalized interim 
registration decision released on Aug. 1.

Emily Unglesbee
DTN Staff Reporter

   KANSAS CITY, Mo. (DTN) -- EPA finalized its interim registration decision 
for paraquat on Aug. 1, reversing its proposal last year to ban most aerial 
applications.

   Instead, the agency will permit aerial applications of the Group 22 
herbicide in crops, with expanded buffer requirements and acreage limits 
designed to protect applicators. Aerial use of paraquat is most common in 
cotton, where it is used as a plant desiccant to prepare for harvest.

   Though finalized, EPA's conclusion here remains an "interim" registration 
decision. The agency will not have a complete registration decision for 
paraquat until it conducts its endangered species assessment and an endocrine 
screening for the chemical.

   The agency first put out a draft interim decision for paraquat back in 
October 2020, wherein it proposed banning all aerial applications except for 
cotton desiccation, in addition to banning handgun and backpack sprayer 
application methods. See more on that draft decision here: 
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/10/22/epa-releases-i
nterim-registration. In its new decision, the EPA noted that, outside cotton 
desiccation, "aerial application of paraquat is likely minimal or sporadic."

   Some of the changes EPA made between that draft and the new finalized 
decision are the result of new data from a consortium of chemical companies 
called the Agricultural Handler Exposure Task Force. (See more here:  
https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-science-and-assessing-pesticide-risks/occupational
-pesticide-handler-exposure-data#ahetf.)

   Ultimately, the finalized decision has these changes:

   -- Aerial applications are permitted but limited to a maximum of 350 acres 
per applicator within a 24-hour period for all uses except cotton desiccation, 
where no acreage limitations will be required.

   -- A 50- to 75-foot residential buffer requirement now applies to all aerial 
uses of paraquat.

   -- The use of human flaggers during paraquat applications is prohibited.

   -- Enclosed cabs are required for applications made to more than 80 acres in 
a 24-hour period, to limit inhalation risks.

   -- For smaller applications to 80 acres or fewer in a 24-hour-period, PF10 
respirators can be used, or enclosed cabs.

   -- Applications with mechanically pressurized handguns and backpack sprayers 
are prohibited.

   -- Applicators must follow a 48-hour restricted entry interval for all crop 
uses except for cotton desiccation, which requires a seven-day restricted entry 
interval.

   -- Labels will include new language designed to limit spray drift, as well 
as new units of measurement.

   To see the full decision, visit the EPA docket here: 
https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0855-0307.

   Use of paraquat, which is sold under brand names such as Gramaxone, 
Firestorm and Parazone, has increased steadily in the U.S. in the past decade, 
in response to the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. Applications rose 
from under 5 million pounds a year before 2013 to as high as 12 million pounds 
per year in 2017. Based on survey data from a research company called Kynetec 
USA, the highest use by acreage is in soybeans, cotton and corn, but producers 
also lean heavily on paraquat in grapes, pistachios and peanuts.

   However, the chemical has also been the target of lawsuits and controversy, 
given its high toxicity, its role in poisoning accidents and research 
suggesting it might be linked to Parkinson's disease. Most recently, paraquat 
registrant Syngenta and a past manufacturer of the chemical, Chevron USA, are 
facing class-action lawsuits alleging that its use has caused Parkinson's 
disease in farmers. See more here: 
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2021/05/20/legal-challeng
es-grow-paraquats.

   The herbicide is undergoing EPA's routine 15-year re-registration review, 
which the agency began back in 2012. In 2016, the agency instituted new rules 
on labeling, packaging and handling requirements aimed at reducing accidental 
poisonings. See more here: 
https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-takes-action-prevent-poisonings-herbicide.

   Environmental groups reacted with concern to EPA's finalized interim 
decision permitting aerial applications.

   "It's extremely disappointing that the Biden EPA is reapproving this 
dangerous pesticide, which is outlawed across a lot of the world," Nathan 
Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological 
Diversity, said in a news release. "Instead of banning a weed-killer linked to 
Parkinson's disease in farmworkers, reproductive harm in small mammals and 
increased death rates for birds, this administration is bowing to the wishes of 
the chemical industry and allowing it to be sprayed on crops from the air."

   Emily Unglesbee can be reached at Emily.unglesbee@dtn.com

   Follow her on Twitter @Emily_Unglesbee




(c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.