August 18, 2010
Susanne Rust
Kimberly Vardeman/FlickrCalifornia cotton growers say a pesticide ban will have a 'detrimental effect' on the industry.
The federal government announced on Tuesday a ban of a pesticide commonly used on food crops such as citrus, peanuts and sugar beets because of concerns about the chemical's effect on young children who may eat foods tainted with the chemical.
The ban will take immediate effect on all citrus and potato uses, but the pesticide will be phased out gradually for use on cotton, dry beans, peanuts, soybeans, sugar beets and sweet potatoes.
The ban is the result of an agreement reached between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Bayer CropScience LP, the manufacturer of the Temik 15G aldicarb pesticide.
"A new risk assessment conducted by EPA based on recently submitted toxicity data indicates that aldicarb no longer meets our rigorous food safety standards and may pose unacceptable dietary risks, especially to infants and young children," the EPA said in a statement.
In the 1980s, more than 2,000 people in California and Oregon became ill after eating watermelons contaminated by aldicarb. And the European Union banned it for a variety of crop uses in 2003, citing health concerns.
Bob Blakely of California Citrus Mutual, a trade association, said citrus growers in the state do not use the pesticide and won't be affected by the agreement.
But it is widely used on cotton in California. According to a 2007 EPA report, between 2001 and 2005 cotton growers applied an average of 234,000 pounds of the pesticide to their crop every year. And it was sprayed on nearly 220,000 acres.
Use of aldicarb has decreased in California since those numbers were recorded. According to Veda Fererighi, a spokeswoman for the Department of Pesticide Regulation, slightly more than 30,000 pounds of the chemical was used on about 30,0000 acres in 2009.
That drop is likely due to the decrease in cotton farming in the state, which now accounts for 195,000 acres - down from close to 700,000 in 2005.
Despite cotton's decline in the state, the ban "will have a detrimental effect on cotton growth in California," said Roger Isom, executive vice president of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations.
"There is no single replacement for Temik," Isom said. "It could take multiple applications of multiple products to achieve the same effectiveness."
He said the EPA's action may lead to pest resistance, as fewer and fewer pesticides are available for use.
For more information on where aldicarb is used, see this report.
For information on aldicarb licenses in California, check out this page.
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