EPA Revokes All U.S. Food Tolerances for Pesticide Carbofuran

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed a final rule that will prohibit carbofuran residue in fruits and vegetables. The agency is also canceling all existing carbofuran registrations. Effective January 1, 2010, the rule will apply to both domestic and imported produce, including alfalfa, barley, beets, corn, cranberries, cucumbers, grapes, peppers, rice, soybeans, and wheat.

According to the agency, “carbofuran products pose an unreasonable risk to man and the environment which outweighs the benefits of continued use, and therefore all uses must be canceled.” EPA has been investigating the insecticide, sold under the brand name Furadan®, for several years. Its granular form was banned in the mid-1990s because it was blamed for killing millions of migratory birds. EPA claims that the pesticide “can overstimulate the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, confusion and, at very high exposures, respiratory paralysis and death.” The rule has been forwarded to the Federal Register for publication.

According to a spokesperson for FMC Corp., the company that manufactures the pesticide, EPA’s action is not warranted by the scientific evidence; the company reportedly plans to file objections to the agency’s decision. The company apparently contends that voluntary changes it made to the label “allowed the product to meet the dietary safety standard using EPA’s own conservative assumptions.” An industry trade association representative was quoted as saying, “the decision to revoke carbofuran’s tolerances does not live up to [the Obama administration’s] commitment” to “sound science, transparency, and the rule of law.” See The Associated Press, May 12, 2009; Southwest Farm Press, May 14, 2009.