Agency Wants to Know About Inert Ingredients
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants public comment on options for disclosing inert ingredients in pesticides.
Compiled by staff
Published: Dec 28, 2009
Farmers know the active ingredients in the products they use and the value of those products to their farms. Those potent crop protection products are packaged with inert ingredients designed to preserve the active, help the product in application and other features. But those inert ingredients are usually a secret, considered by the industry as proprietary and often what separates a brand name performer from a generic.
Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requesting public comment on options for disclosing inert ingredients in pesticides. The agency is seeking ideas for greater disclosure of inert ingredient identities. In its release on the matter, the agency says revealing inert ingredients "will help consumers make informed decisions and will better protect public health and the environment."
Pesticide manufacturers disclose their inert ingredients only to EPA. Currently, EPA evaluates the safety of all ingredients in a product's formulation when determining whether a product should be registered. In a press statement, Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, comments: "Consumers deserve to know the identities of ingredients in pesticide formulations, including inert ingredients. Disclosing inert ingredients in pesticide products, especially those considered to be hazardous, will empower consumers and pesticide users to make more informed choices."
On October 1, 2009, EPA responded to two petitions (one by Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, and a second by several state attorneys general), that designated more than 350 inert pesticide ingredients as hazardous. The petitioners asked EPA to require that these ingredients be identified on the labels of products that include them in their formulations.
EPA will accept comments on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking for 60 days after it has been published in the Federal Register.
For more information visit inerts.
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Tagged: EPA, pesticide, Environmental Protection Agency, crop protection products, pesticide products
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