UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
O F F I CE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY AND POLLUTION PREVENTION



### MEMORANDUM Date: August 29, 2013 

### SUBJECT: Dazomet: Review of Human Incidents
PC Code: 035602 Decision No.: 476790 Petition N o.: NA DP Barcode: 0414491 Registration No.: NA Regulatory Action: NA Case No.: NA Risk Assessment T ype: NA TXRNo.:NA CAS No.: 533-74-4 40CFR: NA MRIONo. : NA


### FROM:

# nna Recore, Industrial Hygienist Toxicology and Epidemiology Branch Health Effects Divi sion (7509P) and Eliza b eth Evans, Env ironmental Protection Specialist To xicolo gy and Epidemiology Branch Health Effects Di v i sion (7509P) 

# -6.----

# ~ T HROUGH: David J. Miller , Acting Branch Chief

## ~ To xicology and Epidemiology Branch Health Effects Division (7509P) 

### TO: Shalu Shelat, Risk Assessor Risk Assessment Branch VI Health Effects Di v ision (7509P) and Dana Friedman, C h emical Review Manager Risk Management 

### & Implementation Branch 2 Pesticide Re-evaluation Di v i sion (7508P) Summary and Conclusions Ver.Apr.08

Based on the low f requenc y and severity of incident cases reported for dazomet in both IDS and NIOSH SENSOR-Pesticides , the re does not appear to be a concern at this time that would warrant further invest igation. The Agency will continue to monitor the incident information and 

### if a concern is triggered , additional analysis will be included in the risk assessment.

Page 1 of 4The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is also a potential source of inf ormation associated with human heal th effects associated with certain pesticides. Dazomet i s not included in the AHS , and therefore this stu dy does not provide information for this report.

Detailed Review I. ACTION REQUESTED This review is intended to fulfill our requirement to docket summaries of incident data that were reported to the Agency, as well as to ensure human incident data and the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) are part of the problem formulation phase of registration revie w. Reports of adverse health effects allegedly due to a specific pesticide exposure (i.e. , an " incident") are largely self-reported and there fo re , generally speaking , neither exposure to a pesticide or reported symptom (or the connection between the two) is validated or otherwise confirmed. Typically , causation cannot be determined based on incident data. However , incident information can be an important source of feedback to the Agency: incidents of severe outcome , o r a suggested pattern or trend among le ss severe incidents, can signal the Agency to further in vestigate a particular chemical or product. Obse rvational epidemiology st udi es relate the risk of disease, e.g., cancer , and exposure to an agent such as a pesticide product in the general population or specific sub -groups like pesticide app licators

. II. BACKGROUND Dazomet is a non-selective so il fumigant with fungicidal, herbicidal and nematicidal properti es. When dazomet is app li ed, it is quickly broken down into several degradates ; the major degradate being methyl i sothi ocyanate (MITC). MITC is highly volat ile and is re spons ibl e for the fumigant properties of dazomet. Dazomet is used on a wide range of sites including go lf greens or tees , nonbearing crops , turf sites, ornamental si te s, field nurseries , compost pile s, potting soils, and strawberries and tomatoes (in California only). There are no residential uses of dazomet. For this evaluation , both OPP Inc ident Data Sys tem (IDS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/N IOSH) Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risk-Pesticides (SENSOR) databases were consulted for pesticide incident data on the active ingredient dazomet (PC Code: 035602). The purpose of the database search is to identify potential patterns in the frequency and severity of the health effects attributed to dazomet exposure. In addition, findings f rom th e Agricu ltural H ealth Study (AHS) were reviewed. The AHS is a high quali ty, prospect ive epidemi ology study evaluating the li nk betw een pesticide use and various health outcomes including cancer. Dazomet is not included in th e AHS , and therefore this study does not provide information for thi s report.


### III. RESULTS/DISCUSSION a . IDS (Incident Data System)
Page 2 of4OPP's IDS i ncludes reports of alleged human hea lth incidents from various sources, including mandatory Federal Insecti c i de, Fungicide a nd Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 6(a)(2) reports from registrants, othe r federal a n d state h ealth and environmental agencies, and in dividual consumers. Since 1992, OPP has co mpi led these reports in IDS. I DS contains reports from across the U

. S

. and most incidents have all relevant product info rmation recorded. Reports submitted to the IDS represent anecdotal reports or allegations only, unless otherwise stated in the report. IDS records incidents in one of two modules: Main IDS and Aggregate IDS:

o Main IDS conta i ns in ci dents resulting in h igher severity o utcomes and provides mo re detail with regard to case spec ific

. T h is system stores inc ident data fo r death, majo r and mo derate incidents, and it includes information about the location , date and nature of the incident. Main IDS incidents involving only one pesticide are considered to provide more certain information about the potential effects of exposure from the pest icide.

o Aggregate IDS contains incidents resulting in less severe human incidents (minor , unknown , or no effects outcomes). These are reported by registrants only as counts. in what are aggregate summaries

. For the Main IDS, from January 1, 2008 to February 19,2013, there was I incident rep orted in the database . This incident is classified as moderate severit y. Overall, there are few incidents involving dazomet reported to IDS. In Aggregate IDS , from January 1 , 2008 to February 19 , 2013, there were 7 reported incidents involving dazomet. These incidents are classified as minor severity.



### b. SENSOR-Pesticides The SENSOR

- Pestic i des database covers 11 states from 1998

- 2009, a lthough reporting varies from state to state. Cases of pesticide-related illnesses are ascertained from a variety of sources , including: reports from local Poison Control Centers , state Department of Labor workers' compensation claims when reported by physicians , reports from S t ate Departments of Agriculture, and physician reports to state D epartments of Health. Although both occupational and non-occupational incidents are included in the database, SENSOR-Pesticides focuses on occupational pestic ide incidents, and is of particular va lue i n p roviding that information. The state coo rdi nator at the 11 respect i ve state Departments of Health co n d ucts case fo ll ow-up activ iti es such as obtaining medical records to verify symptoms and severity. Using standardized protocol and case definitions derived from poison center reporting, the state SENSOR-Pesticide coordinator enters the incident information into the state-based system which is sent to NIOSH annually to be aggregated.

P age 3 of4A query of SENSOR-Pesticides 1998-2009 identifies 2 cases, stemming from 2 events, involving dazomet. Both cases involve a single active ingredient. One case occurred in California in 1999 , and was moderate in severity. No case narrative was entered

. The second case occurred in Califo rni a in 2005 and was low in severity. This case applied product to a telephone pole to control for termites and developed a rash. Both cases were work-related.

c. Agricultural Health Study (AHS) The AHS is a high quality, prospective epidemiology study evaluating the link between pesticide use and various health outcomes including cancer. The AHS include s private and commercial pesticide app licators and their spouses. If there are AHS findings relevant to a particular pesti ci de going through regis tration review, the Agency will ensure they are cons ide red in the problem formulation/ sco ping phase of the process and, if appropriate , fully reviewed in the risk assessment phase of the process. The AHS includes information on use of 50 different pesticide active ingredients commonly used in agriculture. Dazomet is not included in the AHS, and therefore this study does not provide information for this report. IV. CONCLUSION Based on the low frequency and severity of incident cases reported for dazomet in both IDS and NIOSH SENSOR-Pes ticides , there does not appear to be a concern at this time that would warrant further inv estigat ion. The Agency will continue to monitor the incident information and if a concern is tri ggered , additio nal anal ysis will be included in the risk assessment.

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