Endocrine Disrupter Program Questioned

CropLife America, the largest pesticide trade group in the U.S., filed a petition with EPA on July 14 voicing concerns about the agency's endocrine disrupter screening program. The program will require the testing of 73 active or inert ingredients used in making pesticides. The petition questions why existing data on pesticides, including reproductive and developmental toxicity data, do not fulfill the program's requirements. "The program could place unnecessary financial, time, and resource burdens on our industry, EPA, and society," said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife. EPA is required to implement the program by law and is under pressure from Congress to do so by the end of August. CropLife recommends that the agency review all data that have already been submitted by pesticide registrants on a case-by-case basis or explain why those data are inadequate. The group is also asking EPA to perform economic analyses that would highlight the cost of the screening program to industry. EPA is carefully reviewing the petition.