EPA Recommends Measures to Mitigate Risks Associated with Pesticide Dicrotophos

EPA has made recommendations for mitigating risks to human health and the environment associated with dicrotophos, a pesticide used for controlling arthropod pests on cotton. EPA’s Interim Registration Review Decision for dicrotophos (PDF) explains that exposure to the substance may lead to neurotoxicity. The agency’s news release announcing the publication of its decision adds that there are “human health risks of concern” for occupational handlers applying dicrotophos and bystanders from spray drift, as well as ecological risks for birds, mammals, terrestrial invertebrates, and aquatic invertebrates. To mitigate these risks, EPA recommends reducing the rate of aerial application of dicrotophos, implementing buffers between application areas and bystanders, minimizing runoff, including pollinator stewardship language on product labels, and adding guidance on labels to instruct users in reporting ecological incidents.

“EPA will consider if additional mitigation measures are necessary for dicrotophos prior to the final decision,” the news release states.

These recommendations update some of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Interim Ecological Mitigation measures and respond to public comments on the agency’s proposed interim decision for dicrotophos, which was published in June 2024. The new Interim Registration Review Decision may be downloaded from Regulations.gov. More information is provided in EPA’s news release.