February 2004

Pesticide Potpourri

• William C. Murphy of Glencoe, AL pled guilty on January 5 to 17 counts of violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and 11 counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods. Operating under the company name of Sierra Chemical, the defendant sold counterfeit, misbranded, adulterated and/or mislabeled pesticides to numerous municipalities in Alabama and Georgia. The municipalities used them to control mosquitos and the spread of the West Nile Virus. Selling altered, counterfeit or improperly branded or labeled pesticides to cities to control mosquitoes and other insects can present a significant public health and environmental risk, either through contamination due to the unregulated application of potentially harmful chemicals, or by failing to protect the public from the diseases carried by the insects. The case was investigated by the Jacksonville and Atlanta Area Offices of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI the EPA Office of Inspector General, the EPA Region 4 Pesticide and Toxics Division and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (EPA Pesticide Programs Update, 1/9/04).

• The EPA Office of Pesticide Programs is offering several new documents providing valuable information on pesticide safety and integrated pest management. "Help Yourself to a Healthy Home: Protect you Children’s Health" contains information about environmental contaminants found in many homes and how to protect your family from risks posed by carbon monoxide, unhealthy drinking waters, poor indoor air quality, lead poisoning, hazardous household products and pesticides. This booklet is also available in Spanish as "Contribuya a Tener un Hogar Sano." “Join our Pest Patrol: A Backyard Activity Book for Kids on Integrated Pest Management” is geared at elementary school children in grades 3-5. The pamphlet contains 29 pages of fun activities that can easily be incorporated into reading, science, or even math and art classes. It provides kids and teachers with important information about pest identity, biology, and ecology. To order, call Kathy Seikel at 703-308-8272 or seikel.kathy@epa.gov. (EPA Pesticide Programs Update, 1/9/04).

• A compound produced by mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, has demonstrated effective preliminary results in the control of pest snail species. Named vulgarone B, the compound is reported to be just as effective and faster than current materials used to control golden apple snails in rice and ram’s horn snails in catfish production. Ram’s horn snails serve as intermediate hosts for a flatworm that attacks and kills young fish. (USDA ARS Agricultural Research, January 2004).

• Based on an online survey conducted by the Evergreen Foundation, 54 percent of respondents don’t want more regulation on their yard-care practices. The 611 respondents were owners of single family homes, condominiums , or town homes. More than ninety percent agreed that having a well- maintained lawn improves property values, and that green spaces such as parks should be well maintained. When given a list of lawn pests, homeowners by a wide margin expressed concern about weeds (75 percent), with between 20 and 32 percent concerned about insects, diseases, or vertebrate pests. The Evergreen Foundation’s mission is to raise awareness of the environmental, economic, and lifestyle benefits of landscapes, with funding from contributors such as end-user associations and suppliers. (Florida Turf Digest, November/December 2003).

• A total of 167 million acres of genetically engineered crops were planted globally in 2003, which is 15 percent more than 2002, according to the International Service for the acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. China and South Africa reported the largest percentage increases in 2003 (more than 30 percent) and the increase for the U.S. was ten percent. However, about two-thirds of the world’s bioengineered crops are grown in the U.S. (106 million acres). The report also predicted that the global market for these types of crops will be $4.5 billion in 2004. (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 1/19/04).

• A risk assessment for the mosquito adulticide permethrin was conducted based upon data collected from ULV ground applications in Saginaw, MI during 1999. Samples of residue were collected from park surfaces after the applications had been made 12 hours earlier. The result of the analysis is that a child playing in the park would likely absorb only 0.007 percent of the acceptable daily intake (conversely, the exposure is 15,120 times less than the ADI). (Wing Beats, Winter 2003).

• A three-year study at Oregon State has answered the question of fish deformities observed in a deep, slow-moving section of the Willamette River south of Portland. Preliminary analyses indicated that the level of pollutants was not greater in the area, but more than half of some fish species had skeletal deformities and lesions. Two parasites have been implicated (a fluke and a myxozoan), with most of the damage being caused by the fluke, Apophallus donicus, which at one stage in its life is a tiny worm the can penetrate into the fish bone and cause abnormal growth. (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 1/26/04).

• USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation has announced the availability of $2 million in funding for the 2004 Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) Program and is soliciting applications from private sector and government agencies. TASC is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service and is designed to address barriers to the export of U.S. specialty crops. Project expenses that may be reimbursed under the TASC program include: field surveys, development of pest lists, pest and disease research, database development, reasonable logistical and administrative support and travel and per diem expenses. For more information, contact the Marketing Operations staff at FAS at (202) 720-4327. (USDA email of 2/11/04).

• The honeybee, Apis mellifera, navigates rapidly and accurately to food sources that are often miles away. They achieve this by learning visual cues, such as the location and color of nectar-bearing flowers, and chemical cues, such as the scent and the taste of the nectar. Researchers in Australia have trained bees to visit differently scented sugar feeders placed at specific outdoor locations and found that the bees can be induced to visit the same locations simply by having the corresponding scent blown into the hive, even when the destinations no longer have the food or carry the scent. A familiar nectar scent can trigger specific memories of a route and therefore expedite navigation to the food source. (Nature, 1/29/04, via AgNet).

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