Background

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requires, pursuant to FIFRA, pesticide registrants to submit exposure data (i.e., how much pesticide residue contacts the clothing and skin of individuals) for the purpose of conducting risk assessments.

The amount of chemical residue that contacts an individual’s clothing and skin is a function of the formulation type (i.e., liquid or granule product), the way in which a person handles the pesticide when mixing and applying product, and the degree of contact between the body and treated turf when reentering a treated area. The specific active ingredient in the pesticide product does not affect the amount of exposure. Therefore, the amount of exposure is “generic” since it is independent of the active ingredient.

Since exposure is generic, the most efficient means of generating exposure data is for the companies who register residential turf products to pool their technical and financial resources. This was accomplished with the formation of the ORETF.

This approach benefits the regulatory agencies and industry by generating a single, comprehensive database of high quality exposure data that are applicable to all active ingredients rather than having individual studies to cover dozens of active ingredients. The generic exposure data enable regulatory agencies and ORETF members to estimate occupational and residential exposure and risk to people who might contact treated turf. However, ORETF’s exposure studies and database may only be used to make regulatory decisions for the members who have sponsored the research or for those non-members that cite ORETF’s data base after it is submitted to EPA and offer to compensate ORETF for such citation in compliance with FIFRA.

This proprietary database of exposure data is being used by USEPA, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), and Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to evaluate member companies’ chemicals.