NEW YORK - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has removed another pesticide from the lawn and landscape contractor and pest control arsenal as part of its compliance with the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA). Syngenta Crop Protection USA announced today, Dec. 5, 2000, it would phase out its diazinon insecticide business amid an EPA effort to remove the pest-control product from the market. The process affecting diazinon previously affected chlorpyrifos (Dursban) in June 2000 with the discontinuation of most of that product’s uses.
Syngenta Crop Protection - a unit of Switzerland's Syngenta AG, which was just recently created from the merger of Novartis Crop Protection and Astra Zeneca - the largest producer of diazinon, said it had coordinated its withdrawal from the business with the EPA. Syngenta said it would phase out the product over four years to allow for a smooth transition from the market.
In a statement made by Syngenta, the company said that by working with the EPA, it has ensured that the compound meets or exceeds the margins of safety as required by FQPA during the phase-out period.
Diazinon, marketed for more than 40 years as a home lawn and garden insecticide, is the last widely used pest-control product made from a class of chemicals, known as organophosphates, that are linked to health risks for children, according to a Reuters news story. Diazinon is commonly found under the trade names Ortho, Spectracide and Real-Kill.
Under an agreement between the EPA and Syngenta, the use of diazinon will be banned for use indoors and will be phased out over a four-year period for outdoor lawn and garden applications. While other manufacturers will continue to sell diazinon for agricultural uses after 2004, Syngenta will phase the product out completely. In July 2000, Novartis Crop Protection (now part of Syngenta) had voluntarily discontinued support of indoor uses for diazinon in an effort to use more funds to protect outdoor uses of the product.
Syngenta has maintained that the insecticide poses no health risks with normal application as instructed on the product packages. But the company contended that the extensive tests needed to prove the product safe under FQPA could not be justified, so they agreed with the phase out.
“The EPA’s agreement to a four-year market transition for lawn and garden use confirms the value and safety of this product, and reflects the agency’s conclusion that no unreasonable risk to people or the environment exists,” said Eileen Watson of Syngenta’s business planning and development division.
Many factors contributed to Syngenta’s decision to end diazinon sales, but the most compelling factors were economic, according to the company. “Declining profit margins are the reason for our market withdrawal decision. Although diazinon sales have remained strong, the margins on this product have continued to erode due to a very competitive marketplace, “ said Watson. “The investment to keep diazinon on the market can no longer be justified.”
Diazinon is one of 45 pesticides known as organophosphates, a group of chemicals derived from the same family of chemicals as the sarin nerve gas agent developed during World War II. Organophosphates attack the nervous system and have been under special review by the EPA for more than four years because of their potential health effects on children, including their impact on neural development.
Under FQPA, the EPA is required to restrict or ban a pesticide's use if it poses a specific threat to children. Last May, an EPA draft study concluded that diazinon, may pose a greater health risk than previously thought.
It is one of several widely used pesticides that the EPA has restricted or banned as part of its review of organophosphates. In June, the agency, also citing health risks to children, banned the chemical chlorpyrifos for use in gardens and homes. Chlorpyrifos for decades was widely used under the trade name Dursban in everything from flea collars to bug spray for gardens and lawns. Some restricted agricultural uses for chlorpyrifos were continued.