FoilUNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

OFFICE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY AND 

POLLUTION PREVENTION 

MEMORANDUM 

Da te: July9,2015 

SUBJECT: Ferbarn: Tier I (Scoping) Review of Human Incidents and Epidemiology 

PC Code: 03480 I. 034804 

Decisio n 'o.: 506261 

Petition No. : A 

Ri.sk Assessment Type: A 

TXR No.: NA 

MRID No.: NA 

DP Ba rcocle: 0427982 

Registration No.: NA 

Regulatory Action: A 

Case No.: A 

CAS No.: 1448·1-64- 1, 128-04-1 

40 CFR: NA 

Ver.Apr.OS 

FROM : 

Toxicology 

Shanna Recor

and 

e, Industrial 

Epidemiology 

Hygienist 

Branch ~ 

~ I. I\ • , •• 11. . ~ . ~ _./" 

~d ' 

Health Effect Division (7509P) {VV'~ 

Elizabeth Evans, Environmental Protection Specialist CJ,; 

Toxicology and Epidemiology Branch 

Health Effects Division (7509P) 

THROUGH: David Miller, Acting Branch Chief 

Toxicology and Epidemiology Branch 

Health Effects Division (7509P) 

TO: Jessica Kidwell, Risk Assessor 

Risk Assessment Branch IV 

Health Effects Division (7509P) 

and 

J. Parker, Chemical Review Manager 

Risk Management & Implementation Branch I 

Pesticide Re-evaluation Division (7508P) 

Summary and Conclusions 

Based on the low frequency and severity of incident cases reported for fe rbam to both IDS and 

SENSOR-Pesticides, there does not appear to be a concern at this time that would warrant further 

investigation. The Agency wi ll continue to monitor the incident information and if a concern is 

triggered, additional analysis will be included in the risk assessment. 

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Detailed Review 

I. ACTION REQUESTED 

This review is intended to fulfill our requirement to docket summaries of inc ident 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 review. Reports of 

adverse health effects allegedl y due to a specific pesticide exposure (i.e. , an " incident") are 

largely self-reported and therefore, 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, 

or a suggested pattern or trend among less severe incidents, can signal the Agency to further 

investigate a particular chemical or product. Observational epidemiology studies 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 applicators. 

II. BACKGROUND 

Ferbam (dimethyldithiocarbamate salts) is a carbamate fungicide registered for use on citrus, 

pome and stone fruits, cranberries, and tobacco. 1 

For this evaluation, both the OPP Incident Data System (IDS) and the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH) 

Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risk-Pesticides (SENSOR) databases were 

consulted for pesticide incident data on the active ingredient fe rbam (pc codes: 034801 , 034804). 

The purpose of the database search is to identify potential patterns in the frequency and severity 

of the health effects attributed to ferbam exposure. Ferbam is not included in the AHS, and 

therefore this study does not provide information for this repo1t. 

III. RESULTS/DISCUSSION 

a. IDS (Incident Data System) 

OPP's IDS includes reports of alleged human health incidents from various sources, including 

mandatory Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 6(a)(2) reports 

from registrants, other federal and state health and environmental agencies, and individual 

consumers. Since 1992, OPP has compiled these reports in IDS. IDS contains reports from 

across the U.S. and most incidents have all relevant product information 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: 

1 http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/REDs/factsheets/fcrbam_fact.pdf 

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o Main IDS contains incidents resulting in higher severity outcomes and provides 

more detail with regard to case specifics. This system stores incident data for 

death, major and moderate incidents, and it includes information about the 

location, date and nature of the incident. Main IDS incidents involving only one 

active ingredient (as opposed to pesticide products with multiple active 

ingredients) are considered to provide more certain infom1ation about the 

potential e ffects of exposure from the pesticide. 

o Aggregate IDS contains incidents resulting in less severe human incidents (minor, 

unknown, or no e ffects outcomes). These are reported by registrants only as 

counts in what are aggregate summaries. 

For the Main IDS, from January I, 20 I 0 to February 5, 2015, there were no incidents reported 

involving ferbam. 

In Aggregate JDS, from January I , 20 I 0 to February 5, 2015, there were no incidents reported 

involving ferbam. 

b. SENSOR-Pesticides 

The SENSOR-Pesticides database covers 12 states from 1998-2011 , although 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 State Departments of 

Agriculture, and physician reports to state Departments of Health. Although both occupational 

and non-occupationa l inc idents are included in the database, SENSOR-Pestic ides focuses on 

occupational pesticide incidents, and is of particular value in providing that information. The 

state coordinator at each of the 12 respective state Departments of Health conducts case followup activities such as obta ining medical records to verify symptoms and severity. Using 

standardized protocol and case de finitions derived from poison center reporting, the state 

SENSOR-Pesticide coordinator enters the incident information into the state-based system whi ch 

is sent to NIOSH annually to be aggregated. 

A review of SENSOR-Pesticides 1998-2011 identifi es 19 cases, stemming from 15 events, 

involving fcrbam. Of these, nine cases are single ai, one case was a self-harm attempt by 

ingestion and has been removed from this analysis. Of the eight rema ining single ai cases, four 

cases were moderate in severity and four cases were low in severity. The moderate and low 

severity cases are summari zed in Table I below. 

SENSOR-Pesticides 1998-2011 

Sin2le Al Ferbam Case Descr iption 

Case ID Year Severity Case Description 

TX00999 1999 moderate Spraying termite spray in enclosed area. Inhaled fumes and began 

developing symptoms. 

FL03920 20 10 modcra1e Caller s1a1es that she was exposed to sodium dimethyldithiocarbamate. It got 

into her boot and now her toes are red. 

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FL03052 2008 moderate Was spraying unknown type of "dust" (w/ active ingredient Carbamatc 22%) 

two days ago. 

FL00502 1998 moderate Patient splashed product on his feet, hands and groin area. Now he has 

blisters, was advised Lo remove contaminated clothes. 

OR00913 2003 low No detail provided 

OR00905 2003 low No detail provided 

NY00765 2003 low 

Man 2 days post exposure to Raid insecticide. SOB resolved but headache & 

blurry vision continue. 

FLO l240 2003 low Set off an unknown brand of fogger, did not leave the home for approx. 45 

minutes later. 

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 includes private and commercial 

pesticide applicators and their spouses. If there are AHS findings relevant to a particular 

pesticide going through registration review, the Agency will ensure they are considered in the 

problem formulation/scoping phase of the process and, if appropriate, fully reviewed in the risk 

assessment phase of the process. The AHS includes information on use of 80 different pesticide 

active ingredients commonly used in agriculture. Ferbam 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 ferbam to both IDS and 

SENSOR-Pesticides, there does not appear to be a concern at this time that would wan-ant further 

investigation. The Agency will continue to monitor the incident information and if a concern is 

triggered, additional analysis will be included in the risk assessment. 

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