EPA Wants to Remove 72 Chemicals from Approved Pesticide List

The Environmental Protection Agency Thursday requested public comment on the agency’s proposal to remove 72 chemicals from the Approved Pesticide Inert Ingredient List. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Jim Jones, stated “This is the first major step in our strategy to reduce risks from pesticides containing potentially hazardous inert ingredients.” The action is in response to petitions by the Center for Environmental Health, Beyond Pesticides, Physicians for Social Responsibility and others. These groups asked the agency to issue a rule requiring disclosure of 371 inert ingredients found in pesticide products.

Many of the 72 inert ingredients targeted for removal, are on the list of 371 inert ingredients identified by the petitioners as hazardous. The 72 chemicals are not currently being used as inert ingredients in any pesticide product, according to the EPA.  Chemicals such as, turpentine oil and nitrous oxide are listed as candidates for removal. More information on all 72 chemicals is available in the Federal Register Notice, online at regulations dot gov. (https://regulations.gov)