Better Labels for Mosquito Control Products

by EPA

Mosquito biting human. Photo: USDA. EPA is issuing seven new recommendations to pesticide registrants and others to improve label statements for pesticide products used to control adult mosquitoes. The recommendations pertain to pesticide products applied by ultra-low volume aerial or ground application methods. The recommendations promote consistency and clarify labeling statements that may have been unclear to users. The improvements will help public health mosquito control officials use the most effective techniques while ensuring that use of these products will not pose unreasonable risks to public health or the environment. The recommendations are: (1) adult mosquito control applications should be limited to trained personnel; (2) mosquito control directions and precautions should be clearly distinguished from any other use directions allowed on the label, such as agricultural crops; (3) label precautions and directions should be revised as needed to make hazards to aquatic life as clear as possible, and also to allow the application of these products over or near a body of water allowable under some circumstances; (4) users should consult with the state or tribal agency for pesticide regulation to determine if permits or other regulatory requirements exist; (5) labels should specify a spectrum of spray/fog droplet sizes, and indicate that droplet size should be determined according to directions from equipment manufacturers or other appropriate sources; (6) precautionary language to protect bees should have a provision to allow mosquito control applications in order to respond to threats to public health which are identified by health or vector control agencies on the basis of evidence of disease organisms or diseases cases in animals or humans; and (7) labels for adult mosquitoes should include limits on timing and number of applications to the same location. EPA worked with state agencies to develop initial recommendations and presented them at two public meetings of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee, an advisory committee to EPA representing a full spectrum of interests, including pesticide manufacturers, public health agencies, academia, user groups and public interest groups. In April 2004, EPA issued draft recommendations for public comment. To view the seven new recommendations, go to: http://www.epa.gov/PR_Notices/ Editor’s Note: The mosquito problem is being taken very seriously in the state of Washington. They have uploaded all pesticide products labels relating to mosquito control to a special secure page on their kellysolutions.com website for use by compliance and inspection staff to assist pest control companies and applicators. If your state is utilizing kellysolutions.com in some unique way, please let us know. We will be pleased to share your solution with other KRS state partners.