NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
URBAN PESTICIDES
The San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) supports a nationally unique effort to reduce widespread pesticide toxicity in urban creeks. The problems
are complex: although major contributors to urban creek toxicity were phased out by 2004, the pyrethroid pesticides (synthetic pesticides based on com-
pounds in chrysanthemum flowers, but much stronger and more toxic) that replaced them created a new toxicity problem. Local agencies responsible for
resolving toxicity in their jurisdictions could not directly control pesticide use, and they were frustrated that one pesticide toxicity problem had given way to
another.
SFEP approaches this difficult problem by working to bridge water quality and pesticide regulation. SFEP's Urban Pesticide Pollution Prevention Project educates pesticide regula-
tors about water quality and water quality managers about pesticides. The project tracks regulatory processes for pesticides of concern to surface water quality, connects new
scientific and monitoring data to regulatory reviews, and helps local governments get involved in those processes. The project's consistent voice for urban water quality has helped
to change the way pesticides are regulated at both the California and Federal levels.
THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM IN ACTION
San Francisco Estuary Partnership
In California, pesticide-related
toxicity is more severe—and
more widespread—in urban ar-
eas than in agricultural areas.
Currently, most toxicity comes
from pyrethroids. Generic pyre-
throid names often end in '-thrin,'
such as bifenthrin and cyper-
methrin, and they are sold under
hundreds of formulations and
brand names. Pyrethroids are
widely used nationwide, but tox-
icity measurements and data are
still rare outside of California. In
California, pyrethroids are pri-
marily used to control the state's
most common pest problem,
ants, in homes and buildings.
Ant control in California often in-
volves spraying pyrethroids on a
wide band (up to 10 feet) around
a building. These perimeter
sprays, which are usually ap-
plied by professional applicators,
often cover impervious surfaces,
and runoff can bring pesticides
to storm drains and creeks.
While the wash-off fraction may
be tiny (perhaps less than 1 % of
the total application), pyrethroids
can be toxic to aquatic life in
creeks at concentrations as low
as 10 parts per trillion. A typical
container of pyrethroid pesticide
can contaminate up to 50 billion
gal Ions of water. Even rigorously
following label instructions does
not always prevent pollution and
toxicity in local creeks.
The root cause of this toxicity
can be traced back to a regula-
tory gap. Because the way pesti-
cide laws are implemented
doesn't fully take water quali-
ty—particularly urban water
quality—into account, pesticides
Toxicity of Bay Area Pyrethroids Use Almost
Tripled Between 2001 & 2004
Increase coincident with diazinon phase out
2001 2002 20D3 2004
Estimated use of study list pyrethroids in the San Francisco Bay Area 2001-2004 (permethrin equivalents)
EFFECTIVE
EFFICIENT
ADAPTIVE
COLLABORATIVE
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can be registered for uses that
will cause Clean Water Act viola-
tions. While cities are responsible
for pesticides in surface waters
under their NPDES permits, they
have little direct control because
California law precludes local
government from banning or reg-
ulating pesticides.
SFEP's Urban Pesticide Pollution
Prevention Project works to
bridge this regulatory gap by
consistently bringing water qual-
ity issues to pesticide regulators.
The process begins with a tech-
nical consultant reviewing state
and Federal pesticide regulatory
actions to find those of interest
for water quality. This screening
is a significant task: at the state
level alone, California's Depart-
ment of Pesticide Regulation
manages more than 7,000 pes-
ticides regulatory activities each
year.
Once a specific pesticide item of
interest is identified, SFEP helps
share relevant scientific infor-
mation and insights between
water quality agencies and pes-
ticide regulators. Informal com-
munication facilitated by SFEP is
usually followed up with formal
letters from local agencies, in-
cluding stormwater programs,
wastewater treatment plants,
and California's State Water Re-
sources Control Board and Re-
gional Water Quality Control
Boards, to state and Federal
pesticide regulators.
The SFEP's Urban Pesticide Pol-
lution Prevention Project also
supports communication, edu-
cation, and collaboration among
stormwater and wastewater
agencies, pesticide regulators,
water quality agencies, pesticide
manufacturers, concerned citi-
zens, and technical experts. It
holds regular meetings of a
working group, the Urban Pesti-
cides Committee; issues techni-
cal reports on annual pesticide
usage, science and monitoring
data, and regulatory changes;
and makes presentations to
stakeholders.
The regulatory process works
slowly, but it can make signifi-
cant changes in pesticide use.
For selected pesticides, the proj-
ect's work has secured changes
in label directions to reduce re-
leases, limited outdoor uses to
spot treatments rather than
broadcast applications, and ter-
minated applications to boat
hulls and other areas that drain
directly to waterways. The
SFEP's Urban Pesticide Pollution
Prevention Project has affected
the uses of a wide range of pes-
ticides, including numerous py-
rethroids, pyrethrins, piperonyl
butoxide and MGK-264 (two
synergists), lindane (lice treat-
ment), metaldehyde (snail bait),
and metam-sodium (sewer sys-
tem root control). More impor-
tantly, because of the project's
work, both California and U.S.
EPA pesticide regulators have
revised the methods they use to
assess pesticides. Regulators
more commonly include water
quality in the scope of their risk
assessments—and are more
likely to consider urban pesticide
use patterns.
While SFEP's Urban Pesticide
Pollution Prevention Project cur-
rently focuses on California, its
water quality communications to
Federal regulators have secured
changes to pesticide regulation
at a national level.
Visit www.sfestuary.org to
learn more about this and other
SFEP efforts.
EPA's National Estuary Program
(NEP) is a unique and successful
coastal watershed-based program
established in 1987 under the
Clean Water Act Amendments.
The NEP involves the public and
collaborates with partners to pro-
tect, restore, and maintain the wa-
ter quality and ecological integrity
of 28 estuaries of national signifi-
cance located in 18 coastal states
and Puerto Rico.
For more information about the
NEP go to www.epa.gov/owow/
estuaries.
The NEP: Implementing the Clean Water Act in ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptive, and Collaborative.
EPA-842F09001
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