EPA begins cancellation process for insecticide found to be damaging to aquatic habitats

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently working to cancel products with flubendiamide following recent studies showing that the insecticide breaks down into a toxic material that is negatively impacting aquatic environments.

The cancellation will impact manufacturers Bayer CropScience LP and Nichino America Inc., who had received a time-limited registration for their flubendiamide products. The registration conditions included provisions for voluntary cancellation if the EPA found evidence of unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.

On Jan. 29, the EPA informed the companies that studies have shown the products are harmful to aquatic invertebrates, which are an important link in aquatic food chains and have the potential to impact fish populations. The agency determined that continued use of the products, which are applied to more than 200 crops, sometimes up to six times in a year, presents an unacceptable environmental burden.

According to the original registration terms, the companies should have submitted a request for voluntary cancellation within a week of being informed of the EPA’s findings. The companies have rejected the EPA’s request that they voluntarily cancel the products, leading the EPA to begin the process of cancelling the registrations due to noncompliance with the registrations’ conditions.