United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Prevention, Pesticides
and Toxic Substances
(7506C)
Date: December 1999
EPA735F99024
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Spray Drift of Pesticides
The drift of spray from pesticide applications can expose people, wildlife and the environment to
pesticide residues that can cause health and environmental effects and property damage. For these
reasons and because EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) is responsible for regulating the use of
pesticides in the U.S., OPP has been actively engaged in a number of initiatives to help prevent such
problems. These initiatives include broadening our understanding of the science and predictability of
spray drift based on many new studies and helping pesticide applicators to reduce spray drift by
improving product label use directions and promoting education and training programs on spray drift
for applicators. These initiatives are consistent with the Agency's mission of protecting human health
and the environment from potential adverse effects of pesticides. When we complete our decisions on
how we intend to use the new studies for our regulatory decisions and on the new wording for product
labels, we plan to issue a draft Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice for public comment before making
and implementing final decisions. This 'Tor Your Information" publication provides the Agency's
position on spray drift issues and a summary of responsibilities and activities of EPA and others.
What Is Pesticide Spray Drift?
EPA defines pesticide spray drift as the
physical movement of a pesticide through air
at the time of application or soon thereafter,
to any site other than that intended for
application (often referred to as off-target).
EPA does not include in its definition the
movement of pesticides to off-target sites
caused by erosion, migration, volatility, or
contaminated soil particles that are
windblown after application, unless
specifically addressed on a pesticide product
label with respect to drift control
requirements.
How Does Spray Drift Occur?
When pesticide solutions are sprayed by
ground spray equipment or aircraft, droplets
are produced by the nozzles of the
equipment. Many of these droplets can be so
small that they stay suspended in air and are
carried by air currents until they contact a
surface or drop to the ground. A number of
factors influence drift including weather
conditions, topography, the crop or area
being sprayed, application equipment and
methods, and decisions by the applicator.
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What are the Impacts of Spray Drift?
Off-target spray can affect human health
and the environment. For example, spray drift
can result in pesticide exposures to farm
workers, children playing outside, and wildlife
and its habitat. Drift can also contaminate a
home garden or another farmer's crops,
causing illegal pesticide residues and/or plant
damage. The proximity of individuals and
sensitive sites to the pesticide application, the
amounts of pesticide drift, and toxicity of the
pesticide are important factors in determining
the potential impacts from drift.
How Does EPA View Off-Target Spray
Drift?
EPA recognizes the importance of
exposures to pesticides resulting from spray
drift. There are thousands of reported
complaints of off-target spray drift each year.
Reports of exposures of people, plants and
animals to pesticides due to off-target drift
(often referred to as "drift incidents") are an
important component in the scientific
evaluation and regulation of the uses of
pesticides. Other routes of pesticide exposure
include consuming foods and drinking water
which may contain pesticide residues,
applying pesticides, and contacting treated
surfaces in agricultural, industrial, or
residential settings. EPA considers all of
these routes of exposure in regulating the use
of pesticides.
When labels of pesticide products state
that off-target drift is to be avoided or
prohibited, our policy is straightforward:
pesticide drift from the target site is to be
prevented. However, we recognize that some
degree of drift of spray particles will occur
from nearly all applications. Nevertheless,
applicators and other responsible parties must
use all available application practices
designed to prevent drift that will otherwise
occur. Prudent and responsible applicators
must consider all factors, including wind
speed, direction and other weather conditions,
application equipment, the proximity of
people and sensitive areas, and product label
directions in making their decisions about
pesticide applications. A prudent and
responsible applicator must refrain from
application under conditions that are
inconsistent with the goal of drift prevention,
or are prohibited by the label requirements.
EPA uses its discretion to pursue violations
based on the unique fads and circumstances
of each drift situation.
Pesticide applicators and others, including
land owners, play a very important role in
pesticide application-deciding whether or not
to apply a pesticide and if so how best to
make that application. It is their
responsibility to know and understand a
product's use restrictions. They are
responsible for complying with all other
pesticide laws regarding pesticide
applications and that their application
equipment and techniques will ensure the
maximum possible reduction of spray drift.
EPA also expects applicators to exercise a
high level of professionalism in making
decisions about applications.
How Does EPA Help Protect People and
the Environment from Off-Target Spray
Drift?
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EPA is responsible for a number of
important programs that help protect people
and the environment from potential adverse
effects that can be related to off-target drift
from pesticide applications. These programs
include restricting how pesticides are used,
certification and training of applicators, and
enforcement and compliance of pesticide
laws.
Restricting How Pesticides are Used:
Under Federal law, EPA's Office of
Pesticide Programs is responsible for
evaluating pesticides and their uses to ensure
that they can be used with a reasonable
certainty of no harm to human health and not
cause unreasonable risks to the environment
when properly applied. In fulfilling these
duties, we consider the potential impact of
spray drift on humans and the environment in
our evaluations of proposed pesticides for
new registration and older, existing pesticides
for reregistration.
As a part of our evaluation of a pesticide,
we estimate the amounts of off-target drift
and the associated potential risks to human
health and the environment. Restrictions on a
pesticide's application may be triggered in two
ways. For new pesticides and existing
pesticides undergoing reregistration,
estimated deposition levels are evaluated
along with the pesticide's toxicity. For
existing pesticides, available information on
drift incidents is also evaluated. Based on
these evaluations, OPP may impose specific
restrictions for a pesticide's application.
Specific restrictions may include prohibiting
the use of certain pesticides under certain
conditions; prohibiting certain methods of
application; requiring use of a foliage barrier;
or requiring a buffer zone distance between
the site of application and areas to be
protected. In general, applicators must use all
available drift prevention practices in order to
prevent drift.
During the past few years OPP has
received and reviewed new studies on spray
drift it required from pesticide registrants to
support their product registrations. OPP has
completed its review of these studies and
reached conclusions about the factors that
influence drift and the amounts of sprays
which can drift from the application she.
OPP also collaborated under a cooperative
research and development agreement with
registrants and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) on the development of a
model ("AgDRIFT") to predict distances of
spray drift under many different conditions.
To ensure the scientific quality of the
conduct of the studies, conclusions that were
drawn from these studies, and the predictive
model, OPP obtained independent expert
peer reviews, including the FIFRA Science
Advisory Panel. These expert peer reviews
supported the use of these studies and model
for OPP's science assessments of pesticides.
Based on these studies and reviews, OPP
is now developing improved product labeling
to inform applicators of requirements to
control off-target spray drift. OPP plans to.
publish these requirements and an
implementation plan in a draft notice (PR
Notice) this winter and ask for public
comments. Comments will be considered
before publishing the final requirements in
summer 2000.
Applicator Certification and Training:
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EPA also works with USDA and state
government agencies to carry out certification
and training programs for pesticide
applicators. States have primary
responsibility for ensuring that pesticide
applicators are licensed and certified, as
required by federal and state laws, to apply
pesticides in an appropriate manner. Part of
the program for certification can include
training about how to protect people and the
environment from off-target spray drift.
Enforcement and Compliance of Laws:
When individuals have complaints about
off-target spray drift, they should report those
complaints to their state or tribal government
agency (either agriculture or environmental
protection) which is responsible for enforcing
the proper use of pesticides for that state or
tribe. These agencies have the primary
responsibility of enforcing lawful use of
pesticide products by investigating complaints
and, when appropriate, issuing penalties for
improper use. When necessary, EPA will
assist these agencies with investigations.
Other Activities That Promote Awareness
and Education of Spray Drift Issues
For the past few years, EPA has been
actively working together with other federal
and state agencies and tribes, pesticide and
application equipment manufacturers,
applicators, university scientists and others
(National Coalition on Drift Minimization) on
many spray drift issues. Coalition members,
including EPA, have focused attention on
enhancing pesticide applicator education,
application research, and regulatory initiatives
to foster reductions in drift incidents.
Members of the Coalition have produced
and widely disseminated training and
educational materials for applicators, assisted
with development of improved pesticide
product label directions for drift reduction,
and promoted common awareness and
understanding of technical and regulatory
issues regarding spray drift. Additional
education and communication products are
scheduled for future release.
Complementing these efforts in applicator
education is an increasing number of training
programs sponsored by industry and
pesticide applicator organizations. Such
programs are designed to raise the level of
professionalism and education about drift
issues for those involved in pesticide
applications.
Where to Direct Complaints About Spray
Drift
Should you believe that you have been
exposed to pesticide spray drift and have
health-related questions, you should contact
your physician, local poison control center, or
health department for assistance. You can
also contact the National Pesticides
Telecommunications Network (see below for
specifics).
If you suspect that there has been an
occurrence of illegal spraying, you should
contact your state or tribal pesticide
regulatory agency (either the department of
agriculture or environmental protection).
Take this opportunity to verify that you
have phone numbers for emergency medical
assistance and for your state and country
agencies.
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For Further Information
For general information on EPA's
pesticide program, call the Office of Pesticide
Programs at (703) 305-5017, or visit the EPA
pesticide website at www.epa.gov/pesticides.
For information on pesticides and pesticide
exposure, contact the National Pesticide
Telecommunications Network (NPTN)
between 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.(Pacific
Time), seven days a week, at; 1-800-858-7378
(toll-free) or through their website
(http://ace.orst.edu/info/npM'f). NPTN
provides pesticide information to any caller in
the United States, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin
Islands. ,
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