EPA to Regulate Ion Generators as Pesticides
October 22, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will regulate as pesticides machines that generate silver ions or other substances for pesticidal purposes.
Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, a product that incorporates a substance or mixture of substances to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate pests is considered a pesticide and must be registered, according to the EPA.
However, a product that uses only physical or mechanical means to trap, destroy, repel or mitigate a pest (including microbial pests), such as a mousetrap, is a device and does not need to be registered. Its production and labeling are regulated.
The EPA will identify the information needed for an application for registration and give those products currently out of compliance time to obtain registration.
The notice is not an action to regulate nanotechnology, said the EPA. The EPA has not yet received any information that suggests that this product uses nanotechnology.
The EPA said it will evaluate any applications to register this type of equipment according to the same regulatory standards as other pesticides.
The implementation schedule for regulating the equipment includes the following dates:
- Any person distributing or selling such equipment on or before the date of publication of this notice may continue the distribution or sale of such equipment for six months from the date of publication of the notice (March 21, 2008).
- Any producer or importer of such equipment distributing or selling the equipment on or before the date of publication of this notice who wishes to continue that distribution or sale after six months from the date of publication of this notice may do so only if a prospective registrant has commenced the registration process for the equipment by submitting, at a minimum, an application for pesticide registration form (EPA Form No. 8570-1) for the equipment to the EPA by March 21, 2008.
- Persons distributing or selling such equipment on or before the date of publication of this notice other than the producer or importer may continue to distribute or sell such equipment until their inventories are exhausted.
- Any producer or importer of such equipment distributing or selling the equipment on or prior to the date of publication of this notice who wishes to continue that distribution or sale after 18 months from the date of publication of this notice may do so only if a prospective registrant submitted to the EPA a completed registration package for the equipment by March 23, 2009 and may continue to distribute or sell such equipment only until such time as the EPA acts upon the application or the application is withdrawn.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).