EPA to Phase Out Pesticide Diazinon

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 5, 2000 -- The Environmental Protection Agency hasreached agreement for the phaseout of a widely used pesticide,diazinon, because of its potential health risks to children, agencysources said today.

The chemical, used in household ant and roach sprays and in awide range of garden and lawn sprays, is among a class of chemicalsknown as organophosphates which attack the nervous system and arebelieved to pose special threats to children, even at low doses.

Under an agreement scheduled to be announced by the EPA latertoday, the use of diazinon will be banned for use indoors and willbe phased out over a four-year period for outdoor lawn and gardenapplications, a source familiar with the proposal said, speaking oncondition of anonymity.

The insecticide is commonly found on the shelves of hardware andlawn and garden shops under trade names such as Ortho, Spectracideand Real-Kill.

The chemical’s manufacturer has maintained that the insecticideposes no health risks with normal application as instructed on theproduct packages. But the manufacturers contend that the extensivetests needed to prove the product safe under a stricter law enactedin 1996 could not be justified, so they agreed with the phaseout,sources said.

Attacks the Nervous System

Diazinon is one of 45 pesticides known as organophosphates, agroup of chemicals derived from the same family of chemicals as thesarin nerve gas agent developed during World War II.

Organophosphates attack the nervous system and have been underspecial review by the EPA for more than four years because of theirpotential health effects on children, including their impact onneural development.

Under the Food Quality Protection Act, passed by Congress in1996, the EPA is required to restrict or ban a pesticide’s use ifit poses a specific threat to children. Last May, an EPA draftstudy concluded that diazinon may pose a greater health risk thanpreviously thought.

It is one of several widely used pesticides that the EPA hasrestricted or banned as part of its review of organophosphates. InJune, the agency, also citing health risks to children, banned thechemical chlorpyrifos for use in gardens and homes.

Chlorpyrifos for decades was widely used under the trade nameDursban in everything from flea collars to bug spray for gardensand lawns. Some restricted agricultural uses for chlorpyrifos werecontinued.