An industry initiative known as the Residential Exposure Joint Venture (REJV) plans to conduct a survey this year to update existing data on residential pesticide use and usage – data about a decade old – "to reflect current trends and chemistries," according to a pesticide registration notice issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Regulatory changes that have taken place since the completion of the REJV survey in 2001 (such as the removal of various organophosphates and carbamates from residential uses) and the subsequent market and consumer adjustment to find replacement pesticides, have resulted in significant changes in use patterns, especially for pyrethroids," the notice said.
EPA is issuing the notice to inform registrants about the joint venture and provide information – to those who may wish to rely on and/or help the REJV develop the data – about how they can join it.
According to the notice, "the REJV was formed in August 1997 to collect, organize and analyze label and use information for pesticide products used in and around the home." The objective "for its original survey as well as its future efforts was and is to survey consumers to develop a comprehensive database of residential use and exposure data on consumer pesticides to provide EPA with real world use information to refine its [exposure and other] assessments."
The REJV is in discussions with a contractor and is hoping to start a pilot study as soon as possible, with a full study, which would supplement the original survey, launched in 2011, Susan Little, executive director of the Pesticide Ingredient Review Program at the Consumer Specialty Products Association, who also administers the efforts of the joint venture, told Pesticide & Chemical Policy.
The full survey would be a 12-month, national, diary-based effort, like the original survey, Little said, adding that the pilot effort would help ensure that the new questions on the survey – meant to gather additional information – make sense.
Current members of the REJV include: BASF, Bayer Environmental Science, McLaughlin Gormley King Company, S.C. Johnson & Son, Syngenta, United Industries and Valent Biosciences.
For more details on the notice, including individuals to contact for further information on the task force, click here.