Comment submitted by Anne Katten, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

December 1, 2009 Comments to the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel On FIELD VOLATILIZATION OF CONVENTIONAL PESTICIDES Meeting of December 1-4, 2009 Federal Docket: EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0687 Dear Members of the Scientific Advisory Panel: We share the concerns about post- application exposures of bystander workers and residents to volatilized pesticides and contamination of nearby fields expressed in comments from PANNA, NRDC, the Farmworker Pesticide Project and Larry Jacobs. We also urge you to look within the field at volatilized pesticide exposures experienced by tractor drivers, irrigators and field workers reentering fields during and soon after expiration of restricted entry intervals. For many pesticides, the Worker Protection Standard currently allows some early reentry 4 hour after some pesticide applications have been completed based on the out-of-date assumption that inhalation exposure will be negligible after 4 hours. We have spoken with tractor drivers and irrigators who experienced symptoms consistent with pesticide illness during early reentry work which involved minimal or no contact with treated surfaces. We are also concerned that current restricted entry intervals do not consider exposure to volatilized pesticides, particularly in greenhouses, mushroom houses and poultry and other livestock quarters. Peak short-term exposures to volatilized pesticides need to be evaluated for workers reentering treated fields and enclosures. On a separate note, during today’s meeting I was concerned to learn that inhalation studies conducted in dogs and primates have been excluded from use in this assessment because they “don’t fit the model”. For a number of fumigants and other pesticides more sensitive toxicity endpoints have been found in dogs or primates than in rats and systematic exclusion of this data will not be protective of public or worker health. I also disagree with the Agency’s decision not to assess chronic exposure because of “the seasonal nature of agriculture.” On the west coast agriculture pesticide use in agriculture is not so seasonal. The growing season extends year round in coastal areas and inland dormant sprays and soil fumigants are applied during the fall and winter. Thank you for all the time and effort you are putting into work on this panel on this very important issue of spray drift volatilization. Sincerely, Anne Katten, MPH Pesticide and Work Safety Project Director California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation akatten@crlaf.org 916-446-7904 x 19