USDA's G. W. Irving, Jr.

Contaminated 2,4,5-T samples

Chemical & Engineering

NEWS OCTOBER 5, 1970

PESTICIDE POLICIES SCORED AT AG MEETING

SPAC's Emil M. Mrak Era of "chemical McCarthyism"

Castigating both Government and the pesticides industry for failure to avoid the panicky crises that have brought on an era of "chemical McCarthyism," food technologist Emil Mrak last week warned that current antipesticide movements might lead to chaos in food production. Dr. Mrak, who in 1969 was chairman of former Health, Edu­cation, and Welfare Secretary Finch's commission on pesticides and their re­lationship to environmental health, la­mented lack of judgment by Govern­ment and positive action by industry.

Speaking in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., at the annual meeting of the National Agricultural Chemicals As­sociation, Dr. Mrak said that there has been some improvement in cooperation among various departments within HEW. Implementation of the Finch commission recommendations, how­ever, has been spotty.

The Secretary's Pesticide Advisory Committee (SPAC), recommended by the commission, has been established, and is chaired by Dr. Mrak. SPAC is purely advisory, however, and is not involved in operations. This became very evident, Dr. Mrak points out, when the Department of Agriculture took action against some uses of 2,4,5-T because of its alleged "immi­nent hazard" (C&EN, April 27, page 60) without consulting SPAC.

Modification of the Delaney clause to permit the HEW Secretary to deter­mine when evidence of carcinogenesis justifies restrictive action, also recom­mended by the commission, is prob­ably not politically expedient or even politically possible at present, Dr. Mrak says.

A recommendation for increased federal support for research on all methods of pest control has met with little enthusiasm. There is also little being done to increase participation in international cooperative efforts to pro­mote safe and effective use of pesti­cides, according to Dr. Mrak.

He thinks the absence of general outlines for procedures to test pesti­cides is the worst problem. Realistic standards with respect to dosages, for example, must be developed. Until such protocols are developed, Dr. Mrak warns, one crisis after another will occur.

Industry simply doesn't know what is expected of it. But, he adds, indus­try has been slow in taking convinc­ingly positive action. Dr. Mrak chides industry for applying the "sometimes ugly pressure" that he has observed from the sidelines. He also thinks that very few helpful or constructive sug­gestions have come from industry.

The committee chairman also thinks that adequate dose-response studies will require a number of years and sev­eral hundred thousand test animals. SPAC has looked at laboratories throughout the country to locate facili­ties where such studies could be car­ried out. SPAC's recommendation is that the military's Pine Bluff, Ark., lab­oratory be taken over for the studies. The Government would necessarily be the prime source of funds for the project, but Dr. Mrak expressed hope that industry would also contribute.

Dr. Mrak had some encouraging words for 2,4,5-T producers. Brand­ing actions against 2,4,5-T as products of "hasty, panic-button decisions," he

says he is counting on the Office of Science and Technology to rectify the situation. The conclusions of the care­ful, deliberate study of 2,4,5-T by OST, Dr. Mrak says, will tend not to support past decisions. Industry sources who have seen parts of the OST study in rough form agree that it is generally favorable and satisfactory from the industry point of view. The report hasn't yet been made available to the public.

At press time, Administration offi­cials were reluctant to disclose what legislative and administrative propo­sals the Administration would make to broaden pesticide control before the formal establishment of the Environ­mental Protection Agency slated for Oct. 2. At hearings before Sen. Philip A. Hart's (D.-Mich.) Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment, however, Dr. George W. Irving, Jr., administrator of the Agri­cultural Research Service, disclosed re­sults of USDA research on 110 sam­ples of 2,4,5-T and 16 other commer­cially available herbicides potentially contaminated with dioxins. (Re­searchers suspect that dioxins cause birth deformities in laboratory ani­mals.)

Most of 60 samples analyzed to date contain sufficiently low levels of tetra-chlorodibenzo-para-dioxin to constitute "no known hazards to human health." But samples of 2,4,5-T produced by Monsanto contained relatively high levels of the dioxin. Monsanto, which no longer makes the herbicide, told USDA that it will reprocess remaining 2,4,5-T stocks to eliminate the con­taminant.

OCT. 5, 1970 C&EN 7