Disclose ''Hazardous'' Inert Ingredients In Pesticides, Petitions Demand.

MANASSAS, Va. -- Setting the stage for a lawsuit, a coalition of public interest groups and state attorney generals have petitioned EPA to require disclosure for hundreds of inert pesticide ingredients regulated under environmental laws other than FIFRA.

Inert ingredients serve as dispersants, emulsifiers, surfactants and preservatives, as well as other roles, in pesticide formulations. However, while inerts aren't intended to control target pests, "516 inert ingredients are currently, or were at one time, registered as active ingredients," the public interest petition points out.

Subscribers can access the full story at www.pesticide.net.

Other stories in the August 15, 2006, issue of PESTICIDE.NET Insider eJournal include:

EPA UNVEILS FINAL PROCEDURES FOR REGISTRATION REVIEW

EPA has published its registration review procedures and requirements quicker than skeptics predicted, and plans to initiate reviews later this year. Includes an interview with EPA official Susan Lewis.

LAWSUIT AGAINST GE ALFALFA CONTINUES, MINUS ENDANGERED SPECIES CLAIM AGAINST EPA

In a first of its kind lawsuit, a claim that EPA's tolerances for genetically engineered alfalfa violated the Endangered Species Act is dismissed because environmental groups failed to first exhaust their administrative remedies - and the venue for the claim was held improper. Other legal challenges to Monsanto's Roundup Ready crop, however, will move forward. Includes an Insider Look at Concerns Over GE Alfalfa.

BENEFITS OF EPA'S PESTICIDE PROGRAMS UNCERTAIN, INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDS

Although EPA measures output - such as the number of regulatory decisions it makes - it has failed to measure whether its pesticide programs are generating health and environmental benefits, according to the Agency's Office of Inspector General. One measure advocated by the IG is to reduce the level of currently registered pesticides in the general population.

EPA PLANS IMMEDIATE CARBOFURAN CANCELLATION

EPA's pending Reregistration Eligibility Decision will announce the immediate cancellation of all carbofuran uses, except for six minor crops that only account for 2% of sales and will be granted a four-year phase-out.

Published bi-weekly, PESTICIDE.NET Insider eJournal provides the inside story on issues important to pesticide registrants, regulators and policy activists. PESTICIDE.NET (www.pesticide.net) also operates the world's leading website for news and regulatory information on conventional, biological and antimicrobial pesticides, with over 10,000 documents and a quarter million visits per month.