UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON D.C., 20460 

MAR 2 8 2016 

OFFICE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY 

AND POLLUTION PREVENTION 

MEMORANDUM 

SUBJECT: 

FROM: 

THRU: 

TO: 

Characterization of Propoxur Spot Treatments 

Jonathan Becker Ph.D., Senior Science Advisor .£. /J /3~ Biological Analysis Branch /f/v· / ' 

Stephen Smearman, Economist ~ _ -/u..,~ 

Economic Analysis Branch r'f'· 

Biological and Economic Analysis 7503P) 

Cowell Cook, Acting Chief 

Biological Analysis Branch 

r:-(L C,.fPJL 

Timothy 

Economic KielyAnalysis , Chief Branch ~ l vv\.t 

A A~ . 

Biological and Economic Analysi ivision (750 

Brittany Pruitt, Chemical Review Manager 

Kelly Sherman, Chief 

Risk Management and Implementation Branch III (RMIB Ill) 

Pesticide Re-Evaluation Division (7508P) 

Gabe Rothman, Environmental Scientist 

Hannah Yingling, Biologist 

Environmental Risk Branch 5 

Environmental Fate and Effects Division (7507P) 

PRODUCT REVIEW PANEL: 23 March2016 

I 
This memo estimates the amount of propoxur used in an outdoor spot treatment application and 

describes available information on the annual amount of propoxur used. This information will 

be used to help characterize the ecological risk assessment and will inform the risk management 

decision for this chemical. 

Amount of propoxur used for an outdoor spot treatment. Propoxur, a residual carbamate 

insecticide, can be used to treat small areas around structures. There are two types of products 

labeled for this use - ready-to-use formulations (EPA Reg. No. 84396-I 2 and EPA Reg. No. 

62I8-24) intended to be used in an undiluted form and concentrates (EPA Reg No. 86244-1) 

used to prepare small volumes of spray which are then applied using hand-held equipment. In all 

cases the finished spray is applied as a I or I. I percent solution. 

The Agency considers spot treatments to cover an area no larger than 1,000 square feet 1

• The 

volume of spray needed to treat this size of area varies depending on the application method used 

and the pest being controlled. For propoxur used to treat small areas around structures, BEAD 

estimates that this would require about one gallon of finished spray solution based on best 

professional judgement. The amount of active ingredient contained in one gallon of spray is 

calculated by multiplying the amount of product needed to produce I gallon of finished spray by 

the amount of active ingredient in a gallon of formulated product using any necessary unit 

conversion factors. In the case of propoxur, 0.094 pounds would be required to prepare one 

gallon of spray (using EPA Reg. No. 86244-I). 

8 oz product 1 gal 1.5 lbs a. i. 0.9375 lbs a. i. 

-------x x = ------- gal finish solution 128 oz gal product gal finish solution 

Annual usage of propoxur. Nationally, the amount of propoxur used is small. Pesticide use 

reporting data from California indicate that about 200- 300 pounds are used annually. 2 

BEAD does not have current usage information for propoxur at a national level. The most recent 

summary is from 2009, but was based on data from 200I - 2003.3 At that time, the amount of 

propoxur used in the professional management sector was estimated to be 8,000 to 9,000 pounds 

per year. Over the last decade there have been several insecticides registered for use on these 

sites. Additionally, the number of registered use sites for propoxur have been greatly reduced. 

1 EPA, 2012. Standard Operating Procedures for Residential Pesticide Exposure Assessment. 

Office of Pesticide Programs, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency 

2 CALDPR, 2014. Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR). California Department of Pesticide 

Regulation. Available at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/purmain.htm 

3 EPA, 2009.· Use and Usage Information/or Propoxur. Memo from A. Chiri and K. Stebbins, 

Biological and Economic Analysis Division to M. Wait and M. Goodis, Pesticide Re-evaluation 

Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

2 
Based on this, BEAD would expect that the amount of propoxur currently used nationally would 

be substantially less than the 2001 and 2003 estimates. 

3