ARKANSAS PESTICIDE NEWS
Volume 1

The Agricultural Experiment Station
276 Altheimer Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72703
Telephone: (501) 575-3955 Fax: 575-3975

Cooperative Extension Service
P.O. Box 391, Little Rock, AR 72203
Telephone: (501) 671-2000 Fax: 671-2251

University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture and USDA Cooperating

ARKANSAS PESTICIDE NEWS EDITORS

Robert Frans and Diana Horton, Department of Agronomy, Fayetteville and Ples Spradley, Coop. Extension Service, Little Rock

Volume 1, December, 1993

News From All Over

A New Beginning

This issue of Arkansas Pesticide News represents a "beginning again." First published several years ago, the News fell on hard times. We felt the need to resurrect it in order to broaden the base of information available in the pesticide arena, particularly in view of so much mis-information floating about these days. We will try, in these issues, to keep you up-to-date on what's happening, registrations, cancellations and other items of interest. We will excerpt information from several sources as it becomes available to us. Our emphasis will be on what is factual - we do not plan to sensationalize or impart questionable information, although at times we will include brief articles from the popular press. We hope this joint effort between the Experiment Station and the Extension Service will prove fruitful and of value to you. Our mailing lists, primarily, will be of those with an agricultural background or interest. However, if any of you know of persons or organizations that might not otherwise receive this, please let one of us know, or call us at the numbers listed above. Also, we will welcome your criticisms and suggestions for improving our efforts.

Bob Frans
Diana Horton
Ples Spradley

Importance of Pesticide Use in U.S. Cotton Production

Pesticide use in cotton production is con- siderable. In 1989, approximately 10% of the agricultural pesticide sales in the United States were for use in the production of cotton. A report released recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program (NAPIAP) estimates the economic losses that would result if insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, nematicides, harvest-aid chemicals, and plant growth regulators were not available. In addition to losses in the quantity of cotton produced, quality effects such as reduced lint strength and grassy bales would occur if the chemicals were not available.

The NAPIAP report notes that banning a single cotton pesticide would cause relatively small economic losses, however, banning major groups of pesticides, such as the pyrethroid insecticides, would have much larger effects on cotton production and consumption. The Importance of Pesticides and Other Pest Management Practices in U.S. Cotton Production USDA NAPIAP June 1993

EPA Stays Revocation of Food Additive Regulations for Benomyl, Mancozeb, Phosmet and Trifluralin Al Heier 202-260-4374

EPA has announced that it is staying a final action taken in early July to revoke the food additive regulations for four pesticides in seven processed foods. The July revocation action was based on the Agency's determination that these food additive regulations were inconsistent with Delaney Clause (section 409(c) (3) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act). The revocation actions were as follows: benomyl on raisins and tomato products, mancozeb on raisins and bran of wheat, phosmet on cottonseed oil, and trifluralin on spearmint and peppermint oils. Prior to the Aug. 30 effective date of the revocation action, EPA received a number of petitions to stay the revocation actions. Today's action is in response to the petitions. After EPA has completed its review of the petitions and objections, it will publish a decision in the Federal Register. Objections and petitions for a stay of the revocation actions were submitted by the National Agricultural Chemical Association for all the food additive regulations. Similarly, DuPont Agricultural Products submitted objections and a petition for a stay regarding benomyl; objections and a petition were received from DuPont and the Mancozeb Task Force for mancozeb; and finally, DowElanco submitted objections and a petition in behalf of trifluralin. DuPont also filed a request for a hearing on whether benomyl concentrates induce cancer, and DowElanco filed a request for a hearing on whether trifluralin induces cancer. EPA Press Advisory 9/24/93

Without Pesticides, Market Yields Would Drop 70%

Commercially marketable yields of fruits and vegetables would decrease, on average, by 70% while per unit costs of production and per acre costs would rise if pesticides were completely eliminated from farming, a report on reduced pesticide use said.

The research was prompted by producers' concerns over the loss of key chemicals caused by "the high cost of developing supporting health and safety data for governmental approval".

The principal trade-off included in the report: higher supermarket prices; poor product appearance, quality and perishability; a reduction in the U.S.'s ability to compete in the international fruit and vegetable market; short supply of labor needed to do the "drudgery" affiliated with no pesticide use; land requirements would jump by 40% to 50%, and greater management skills and time would be required.

Effects vary according to regional factors, crops, etc., the report noted. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 21, No. 46

EBDC Leafy Green Residues Significantly Reduced

One or more uses of EBDCs on leafy greens may be brought back, an EPA official predicted recently, based on data filed in the cancellation hearing which appear to "show significantly reduced residues resulting from the use of ethylene bisdithiocarbamates (EBDCs) on leafy green crops."

An agency decision will be made following review of the residue data and preparation of a risk analysis which will include the results of storage stability studies available in October 1993. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 21, No. 40

Granular Furadan Needed on Three Crops

Continued use of granular carbofuran (Furadan) on corn, rice and sorghum is being pressed by FMC, which has asked for a meeting with officials of EPA's OPP on the matter. A primary argument of the company is that benefits of continued use are higher than estimated when the EPA-FMC settlement agreement was reached. FMC is making its request for continued use under the "reinvent government" rubric.

The company proposed continued use of the pesticide on corn because of "significant benefits" and the "unavailability of economic alternatives" during EPA's reassessment of the ecological risks of granular carbofuran use.

On the sorghum use, the company said, "The risk to birds seems to be non-existent, and the benefits are exceptional." FMC's letter said, "producers have no guarantee that anything will replace granular carbofuran." Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 21, No. 42

Sand May Be Classified as A Carcinogen

If you made the mistake of thinking federal regulations had gotten just about as bizarre as they can get, please, read on. A federal classification could require golf courses to warn employees of the dangers of bunker sand.

Public Hearing on Command

The State Plant Board of Directors held a public hearing on September 21, 1993 to discuss a number of issues. Among those was the use of Command herbicide on cotton for the 1994 growing season.

The Board voted to allow the use of Command on cotton in 1994. An amendment to this motion was also passed which will make Command a state restricted use pesticide in 1994 and subsequent years.

The State Plant Board will be responsible for drawing up new regulations for the use of Command now that it will be considered state restricted use. The new regulations will include measures intended to reduce the off-target movement of Command. Once the regulations are drawn up by the Plant Board, there will be another public hearing sometime this fall.

At this meeting, the Board of Directors will decide whether to adopt the regulations as proposed by the State Plant Board.

Organic Standards Board Seek Ceiling at 5% of Tolerance

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) this week released for public comment a draft recommendation advising that organic foods should not contain pesticide residues in excess of 5% of the EPA tolerance. The board debated three options for pesticide tolerance: a zero residue standard; a 100% of EPA tolerance standard, which is the same standard applied to conventional foods; or a percentage of the EPA tolerance.

Citing the Organic Foods Production Act's allowance for "unavoidable residual environmental contamination," the NOSB said, "A zero residue standard for organic food would be impractical, expensive and difficult to achieve. It is impossible to prove a negative, particularly when residue testing levels of detection are lowered each time the analytical technology improves." Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, August 11, 1993

Bacteria to Make Egg-Stopping Hormone in Mosquitoes?

ARS and University of Florida scientists are pursuing a new, high-tech way of making mosquitoes buzz off. They found that a synthetic version of the female mosquito's oostatic hormone blocks an enzyme she needs to produce viable eggs. The scientists will try to insert the hormone-making gene into bacteria that infect only mosquitoes. USDA/ARS, July 1993

EPA Will Miss Reregistration Deadline by 9 Years

The General Accounting Office report - Pesticide Reregistration May Not Be Completed Until 2006 - outlines some of the problems encountered since the 1988 mandate.
Reregistration has proved to be a lengthy and complex task;
More resources are needed for the program than EPA originally estimated; and
A large number of the studies that the registrants have submitted on the pesticides contain data insufficient to allow the pesticides to be fully reassessed.

An EPA spokesman indicated the estimate of a 9-year delay probably will be correct, unless the agency gets more funding. He said EPA will have completed 86% of the high volume food-use pesticides by the 1997 deadline. Chemical Regulation Reporter, July 2, 1993, via Chemically Speaking, Univ. of Florida

Food Safety Issues What the Experts Say

The following factual information can help reassure the public or people with whom you work about the safety of our food supplies.

Expertise on pesticide safety best comes from recognized and honored professional organizations and societies including:  American Cancer Society (ACS)
 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
 National Institute of Health (NIH)
 National Cancer Institute (NCI)
 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 Mayo Clinic

Authorities, as well as scientific experts from these organizations, agree that our food is safe. A few specific quotes:

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said:
"I do not know of a single instance where exposure to pesticides on food in the mar ketplace is a source of any danger to children or adults. It's a risk of zero." "Our food supply is not only the safest, but it is the most abundant in the world, and pesticides are one of the important tools that have made that abundance possible."

Sanford Miller, Ph.D., Expert Advisory Panel on Food Safety with the World Health Organization:
"The risk of pesticide residues to consumers is effectively zero."

Joseph Rosen, Rutgers University, Fall 1990 National Academy of Sciences magazine:
"After 30 years of widespread pesticide use, there is no evidence of increased cancer linked to pesticide residue on food."

In an article on the subject of diet and cancer published in January, the AMA concluded:
"The levels of synthetic pesticide residues in food seem so low as to be of no consequence whatever."

The Institute of Food Technologists in a report endorsed by 14 professional societies representing over 100,000 microbiologists, toxicologists, and food technologists concluded that:
"If the use of chemical fertilizers and pesti cides in the United States were completely banned, crop yields would fall by 50% crop losses would soar by 50%, and food prices would skyrocket 2-3 fold."

Pesticide Quarterly, NDSU

Bear Repellent Needs to Get EPA Registration

Hunters and hikers can go on peppering bears to discourage their presence without any interference from EPA. At least for the time being. The issue came before the agency because of the use of an unregistered bear repellent containing oleoresin capsaicin, which occurs naturally in hot peppers.

EPA's Office of Pesticides Programs and the Office of Compliance Monitoring (OCM) invited regional offices in a memo to send in information on any manufacturers or distributors of the repellent so they can be notified of the need to register their products.

OCM suggested "that regions focus on higher priority of enforcement activities, and defer taking additional action on these types of products pending the completion of the registration process." This hands-off policy will prevail for a year if producers are making a good-faith effort to register their products, the memorandum said. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, Vol. 21, No. 38

EPA's Browner Lists Steps to Fill Information Gaps Cited By NAS

EPA Administrator Carol Browner, in a speech to the National Press Club, outlined five steps EPA and other agencies will take to fill information gaps cited in the National Academy of Sciences report on pesticide use and the health of children.
"First, we'll do more to analyze the possible risks of pesticides." EPA screens for 15 different health risks now, but the study recommended looking also at possible problems related to the nervous system, immune system toxicity and the body's hormones.

"Number two, we'll examine the residues found on the foods that our children eat." EPA will work closely with USDA. Browner said: "We need to go out and take samples from fields, orchards and citrus groves across the country."

"Number three, to find out what children eat, we'll improve the food consumption survey, in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture." Agencies must examine diet differences by age, by region, by income level and ethnic group.

"Number four: ... We need to consider an individual's exposure from all sources when determining the acceptability of a pesticide's risk." Sources of exposure include food, drinking water, lawns, the home and elsewhere.

"Number five: ... I'll make it my business to explore the idea of an incident monitoring system and see how we could go about it." Browner said the Reagan Administration had discontinued a program in which hospital emergency rooms reported cases of pesticide poisoning in children to the federal government. "We may well need to collect this information once again," she said.

Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, July 14, 1993

NAS to Investigate the Role of Natural Carcinogens

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will initiate a two year study by a panel of scientists on the impact of naturally occurring chemical carcinogens on human health. NAS will convene a 19-member panel of scientists to examine "the occurrence, toxicological data, mechanism of causation of cancer, including relative risk comparisons with synthetic carcinogens," according to the statement of task for the group. The study will include assessment of the impact of these materials on the initiation, promotion, and progression of tumors. The report is scheduled to be released in 1995.

For years some scientists, such as Bruce Ames from the University of California at Berkeley, have contended that some naturally occurring chemicals present health risks that may be greater than those posed by some industrial chemicals and chemical pesticides that are tightly regulated. Chemical Regulation Reporter, July 30, 1993

Worker Protection Standards Training Materials Update

EPA's Worker Protection Standard (WPS) for Agricultural Pesticides is scheduled to be fully implemented in April of 1994. We are getting numerous questions about the availability of training materials. Due to the lack of funding for developing state specific materials, most states, including Arkansas, have been anxiously awaiting the completion of these materials so that they can begin their state programs. EPA has completed some of the WPS training materials which are now being printed. The details on how these materials will be made available are being worked out. The materials include:
The How to Comply Manual. The How to Comply Manual is a plain English version of the WPS designed for the grower or employer of agricultural labor. It is now complete and is being printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office. We expect it to be printed by other sources, as well. It is expected to be available sometime in September.
The Pesticide Safety Training Handbook for Agricultural Workers. This publication covers all of the WPS safety training re- quirements for agricultural workers. The text is in English and Spanish. The Handbook has been completed and is being printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office and is expected to be available sometime in September.
WPS Safety Poster. The new safety poster that must be displayed on agricultural establishments at a central location has been completed and is being printed. The poster is colorful and presents the required messages simply using English and Spanish text. We expect it to also be available sometime in September.

Other WPS Training Materials. Several other WPS training materials are in various stages of completion.
An audio visual training program for agricultural workers is being developed. Anticipated completion is late this year.
A flip chart version of the Pesticide Safety Training Handbook for Agricultural Workers is being developed. It is 17 inches by 22 inches in size and is designed to be used by a trainer. It is expected to be available by November 1.
A video is being developed for training persons who want to train workers. It is expected to be completed by November 1.
A Pesticide Safety Training Handbook for Pesticide Handlers is currently being developed. It is expected to be available January 1, 1994.

Pesticide Barred After Poisoning

Seattle - Washington state barred the use of an insecticide in fruit orchards after 18 farm workers were poisoned by the neurotoxin, the state Department of Agriculture said yesterday. The insecticide, a chemical known as mevinphos, is marketed under the name Phosdrin by Amvac Chemical Corp. of Los Angeles. Amvac spokesman Jack Prieur said the company had not yet discussed the problem with state officials but had confidence in the product's safety.

Most of the victims had been mixing, loading or spraying the insecticide when they were exposed, said Vicky Skeers, a Department of Health pesticide expert. She said that four of the workers needed treatment in hospital intensive care units but that all of the reported cases had been treated for the poisonings and released. Washington Times, September 1, 1993

Benlate to be Tested for Damage

DuPont says it will pay 15 universities to test crops for damage that growers allege Benlate DF fungicide has caused. The universities will provide an independent testing ground. The challenge is an effort to defuse the more than 400 lawsuits filed to date seeking payment for millions of dollars of crop damage alleged from the use of Benlate. If university tests show that Benlate did not cause the crop damage, the grower who participates in the challenge must drop the claim against DuPont. If the tests find that Benlate applied at label rate caused the damage a grower alleges, DuPont will compensate the grower. The schools are Auburn University; Arizona State University; the University of Arizona; the University of California, Davis; the Uni- versity of California, Riverside; Colorado State University; Cornell University; Louisiana State University; the University of Maryland; Michigan State University; Oregon State University; Pennsylvania State University; Purdue University; the University of Tennessee; and the University of Wisconsin. Mississippi's Environment, Vol. 21, No. 7, July 1993

Federal Government Urged to Buy Organic, Low-Residue Food

The federal government was urged in a July 27 letter to "pursue the option of buying organic and certified low-residue food for use in school lunches." The request came in a letter to Vice President Gore from the Environmental Working group, National Parent-Teacher Association, Consumers Union, Public Voice for Food and Health Policy and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The letter said:
"In particular, we suggest that federal agencies compile a list of programs which purchase food and that the government undertake an immediate feasibility study for all federal food programs. Food purchasing specifica- tions should then be modified to achieve 25% organic and certified low-residue foods in all food purchase programs within five years."

Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, July 28, 1993

EPA to Cancel Registrations Due to Fees Not Paid

Failure to pay 1993 registration maintenance fees by January 15 will result in the cancellation of about 1,050 registrations, some deferred, according to a draft EPA Federal Register Notice. For deferred cancellations, the agency will allow 90 days for agreements to support continued registration or to transfer registrations. Over 60% of the Section 3 registrations to be cancelled are no longer produced. Mississippi Environment, Vol. 21, No. 7, July 1993

National Home and Garden Pesticide Use Survey

The National Home and Garden Pesticide Use Survey, conducted by the Research Triangle Institute for the EPA, surveyed 2,674 households in 58 counties, from 29 states, including 2,078 household visits to gather field data.

The first surprise to EPA officials was that up to a million households still store cancelled pesti cide products such as DDT, chlordane, heptachlor, and silvex. Another surprise concerned the safety of children around household pesticide products. The next surprise regarded pesticide use around the home. The only safety precaution 60-90% of the survey respondents said they took when applying chemicals was washing their hands afterward. Yet 33% or less took further precautions.

Households also scored low in the environmental safety category. Disposal of concentrates pesticides was accomplished in a variety of ways:
67% used the regular trash service;
16% used special collections;
17% either gave it away, poured it down the sink or toilet, on the street, in the gutter, sewer, or on the ground.

This study reinforces the certified pesticide applicators opinion that the American general public is the largest abuser of pesticides. via John Impson, USDA Extension Service, April 21, 1993

EPA Offers Deadlines for Pesticide Risk Reduction

In testimony at a Sept. 22 hearing of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Department Operations and Nutrition, EPA Ad- ministrator Carol Browner called for "strict new deadlines to ensure that all pesticides comply with the new ('reasonable certainty of no harm') standard within seven years." She promised that EPA would:

(1) identify all pesticides "suspected of being high-risk" within six months of enactment of legislation;
(2) remove all high-risk pesticides that failed to meet the health standard within three years, and
(3) remove all remaining pesticides that failed to meet the health standard within seven years.

"These deadlines will put the burden squarely on industry to prove that pesticides are safe," she commented.

EPA and USDA noted that they would develop specific goals for reducing pesticide use by the end of the decade in cooperation with farmers, environmentalists and other interested parties. The agencies also proposed to bring 75% of U.S. farmland under Integrated Pest Management by the year 2000.

Asked how the Administration would define safer pesticides and IPM for regulatory purposes, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Richard A. Rominger said the term "safer" would be defined through the rulemaking process. Conceding that there are "many definitions of IPM," he noted that 20% of current acreage is under IPM now, with up to 80% in some instances. "We need to look at what's happening on the farms," he said.

from Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, September 29, 1993

CBS Wins Summary Judgement in Alar Case

The plaintiffs (apple growers) in a class action suit arising from a 1989 Alar-related "60 Minutes" broadcast cannot prove the broadcast was false, even under their interpretation of its message, ruled a federal judge in Spokane last week. Judge William Fremming Nielsen granted summary judgement in favor of the defendants, bring the case to a close unless it is appealed.

Without the striking of CBS' expert testimony linking daminozide (Alar) to cancer, the plaintiff's motion for summary judgement was obviously in trouble, but Judge Nielsen based his denial of it on a separate line of reasoning, noting that since there was even considerable dispute over the "message" of the broadcast, it could not be ruled to be false as a matter of law.

Judge Nielsen disposed of the first of these issues in a single brief paragraph. The plaintiffs had argued that several naturally occurring carcinogens are more potent than daminozide, but the judge appeared to be willing to limit the context of the broadcast to pesticides. Noting that EPA has listed daminozide as a probable human carcinogen and that its breakdown product UDMH is ranked as "one of the most if not the most carcinogenic synthetic pesticide then on the market," he concluded that "since the CBS statement could be true, it cannot be proven false."

The judge disposed of the second factual issue even more briefly, concluding that because of the long latency period of cancer, ingesting a carcinogen at any time could create an imminent hazard of developing cancer in the future. Therefore, he concluded, the "imminent hazard" portion of the message could also be true, and is at least uncertain.

Similarly, Judge Nielsen swiftly disposed of the issue of whether children were at particular risk. Noting that each side had come forward with conflicting evidence of the subject, he concluded that the most the plaintiffs had been able to prove is that "there is dispute over whether daminozide is more harmful to children." That, he concluded, is not the same thing as proving the broadcast to be false. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, September 22, 1993

IPM Alone Will Not Reduce Pesticide Use, Risk, Group Charges

IPM on 75% of the crops by the year 2000, expected to be proposed by the Administration this week, will not reduce pesticide use and risk, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) charged last week. EWG urged consideration of other techniques, including prescription use. EWG's Richard Wiles, in a memorandum to officials drafting the Administration's food safety legislative principles, reference a review by USDA which showed that IPM reduced pesticide use only by a small amount. "To achieve use and risk reduction through IPM, the conditions of IPM need to be pre- scribed," Wiles declared.

In addition to the prescription use option, he noted the possibility of listing high-hazard pesticides not allowed in IPM systems, or "developing a list of compounds for 50% use reduction in three years, and 100% phaseout in seven years." Wiles contended that the Administration's proposal expected to have IPM practices on 75% of the cropland by the year 2000 is "not a proven use or risk reduction strategy." He stated, "For herbicides, which account for two-thirds of agricultural pesticide use, there are few if any accepted IPM techniques. IPM is a science that has evolved primarily in insect and disease control."

Pesticide Use Reduction Promised by Clinton Doubted

The Administration's commitment to reduce pesticide use was questioned by five public interest groups who wondered at a press conference Sept. 17 whether there is "a major reversal from the June 25 pledges in the making".

In a press release, the groups suggested that the Administration's food safety legislative package should be measured against certain criteria: "Will the package protect the health of 40 million children under the age of ten from the most dangerous pesticides in the foods they eat? Will it protect the health of farmworkers? Will it protect drinking water and the environment? By how much will it reduce pesticide use and risks -- and when?"

The five groups:
Environmental Working Group,
National Audubon Society,
Farmworker Justice fund,
Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet and
World Wildlife Fund.

The groups listed specific pesticides under each criterion. Under drinking water, for example, they listed atrazine, alachlor, cyanazine and metolachlor and stated that the lifetime cancer risks from exposure to them "in surface waters is 30 times the EPA's proposed negligible risk standard". Their handout continued, "Cancer is just one of the adverse effects caused by these herbicides. During the mid-western floods this summer, more than 12,000 pounds per day of atrazine was measured in the Mississippi River at Thebes, IL, alone.

The "high risk" fungicides listed by the groups were EBDCs, benomyl, captan and chlorothalonil. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, September 22, 1993

Pesticide Potpourri

The consideration of pesticide benefits would "almost dry up entirely" under the Administration's food safety legislative package. Benefits would not be weighed, in setting tolerances, except in certain cases where it was determined that there were consumer-level benefits. In that case, time-limited tolerances in excess of negligible risk could be set. Consideration of benefits in registration decisions would be phased out over a decade if the Administration's plan is adopted. PCTN, Sep- tember 1, 1993

Apples, Rice to be Sampled by FDA for Pesticide Residues

Fresh domestic and imported apple samples and rice samples will be collected and checked for pesticide residues during fiscal year 1994, according to FDA, which stated that for apples, 800 domestic and 800 import samples will be collected, and that multi-residue procedures will be used, with single residue procedures for benomyl, formetanate hydrochloride and EBDCs.

Rice to be sampled: white, brown, glutinous (sweet), fragrant, parboiled, converted (instant, etc.). Wild and brewers rice will not be sampled, FDA said. It noted that 576 domestic rice samples will be taken, one sample a month for 12 months from 48 rice mills.

FDA said it will survey approximately 25 samples each of rice destined for children's cereals and for infant food. "No statistical inference will be made from this subset of rice samples," FDA said. It noted that about 800 samples of imported rice would be taken at ports of entry. The rice survey will utilize multi-residue procedures, with single residue procedures for benomyl and carbendazim.

As part of the FDA's continuing effort to improve the pesticide program, they have initiated limited scale 'statistical' monitoring assignments designed to determine how data on violation rates, frequency of occurrence (incidence), and residue levels obtained from such a sampling approach differ from those historically obtained from the agency's traditional sampling approach. Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News, October, 13, 1993

Coca may be Key to Safe Insecticide

WASHINGTON - An observation that insects leave coca plants alone has prompted researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital to think they may be on the trail of insecticides that don't harm human beings.

Coca is a family of South American shrubs from whose leaves cocaine is derived. But bugs feeding on it don't get high, they die.

Dr. James A. Nathanson, a neurologist and pharmacologist, led a team of researchers at Massa- chusetts General in a two-year study. Their report was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cocaine itself, he said in an interview, would not make a good pesticide -- not just because of the potential for abuse, but because it is not selective enough. But, he added, a derivative might do the trick. Assoc. Press, Oct 15, 1993