United States      Prevention, Pesticides     EPA712-C-98-409
          Environmental Protection    and Toxic Substances     March 1998
          Agency        (7101)
4»EPA    Product Performance
          Test Guidelines
          OPPTS 810.3000
          General Considerations
          for Efficacy of
          Invertebrate Control
          Agents

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                           INTRODUCTION
     This guideline is one  of a  series  of test  guidelines that have been
developed by the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances,
United States Environmental  Protection Agency for use  in the testing of
pesticides and toxic substances, and the  development of test data that must
be submitted to the Agency  for review under Federal regulations.

     The Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS)
has  developed this guideline through  a process of harmonization that
blended the testing  guidance  and requirements that  existed in the Office
of Pollution Prevention and  Toxics  (OPPT) and appeared in Title  40,
Chapter I,  Subchapter R of the Code of Federal Regulations  (CFR),  the
Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) which appeared in publications of the
National Technical  Information Service (NTIS) and the guidelines pub-
lished by the Organization  for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD).

     The purpose of harmonizing these  guidelines  into a single set of
OPPTS  guidelines is to minimize variations among the testing procedures
that must be performed to meet the data  requirements of the U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency  under the Toxic  Substances  Control Act  (15
U.S.C. 2601) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
(7U.S.C. I36,etseq.).

     Final  Guideline Release: This guideline  is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 on The Federal Bul-
letin  Board.   By  modem  dial   202-512-1387,  telnet   and   ftp:
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov  (IP 162.140.64.19), or  call 202-512-0132 for disks
or paper copies.  This  guideline is also available electronically in ASCII
and PDF (portable document format) from EPA's World Wide Web  site
(http://www.epa.gov/epahome/research.htm) under the heading "Research-
ers and  Scientists/Test Methods and Guidelines/OPPTS  Harmonized Test
Guidelines."

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OPPTS 810.3000  General considerations for efficacy of invertebrate
control agents.
     (a) Scope—(1) Applicability. This guideline is intended to meet test-
ing requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,  and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136, et seq.)

     (2) Background. The source material used in developing this har-
monized OPPTS test guideline is OPP guideline  95-1 General Consider-
ations (Pesticide Assessment Guidelines, Subdivision G: Product Perform-
ance, EPA report 540/9-82-026, October 1982).

     (b) Overview. (1) A wide variety of pesticide products are used  for
invertebrate control. These products are  used in public  health programs
and  in households, industry, and agriculture. They are applied  against a
tremendous  variety of pests by many different methods in numerous  kinds
of formulations.

     (2) The Agency has waived all requirements to submit efficacy data
unless the pesticide product bears a claim to control termites or pests that
may pose a threat to human health. However, each  registrant must ensure
through testing that each of its products is efficacious when used in accord-
ance with label directions  and commonly accepted  pest control practices.

     (3) For other uses the registrant must develop and maintain the rel-
evant data upon which the  determination of efficacy is based. The Agency
reserves the right to require, on a case-by-base basis (e.g., significant new
uses or benefits data in  cases of special reviews), submission of efficacy
data for any pesticide product, registered or  proposed for registration,  when
necessary.  Suggested performance  standards for non-public health pes-
ticides  other than termiticides are contained in OPPTS  810.1000. Data for
termiticides are required because the user  cannot determine if they have
performed their intended function.

     (c) Definitions.  The following definitions apply to  all guidelines of
Group C—Invertebrate Control Agents:

     Invertebrate  control  pesticide. An  invertebrate  control  pesticide
means  any pesticide product which is intended for preventing or inhibiting
the establishment, reproduction, development or growth of, destroying, re-
pelling or mitigating invertebrate animals declared to be  pests,1 including
    1 The pest names used in this unit on invertebrate control agents conform to those
listed in the "Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms" published by the
Entomological Society of America, 9301 Annapolis Rd., Lanham, MD 20706, and "The
EPA List of Insects and Other Organisms", published 1989. Contact the Scientific Infor-
mation and Analysis Branch, Biological and Economic Analysis  Division (Mail Code
7503W) of the Agency for the lastest update on invertebrate pest names in the EPA
listing.

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any member of the Class Insecta, other allied classes in phyla Arthropoda,
Annelida, andMollusca,  such as slugs and snails, but excluding nematodes.

     Public health uses of invertebrates. The product performance require-
ments for public health uses  apply to (but are not limited to) the following
invertebrates: mosquitoes, biting flies, ticks, fleas, houseflies, cockroaches,
fireants,  hornets,  wasps,  poisonous  spiders,  scorpions,  biting  midges,
centipedes, bedbugs, human lice, and dust mites.

     (d) General considerations. (1) Efficacy data  should be derived from
testing conducted under  conditions  typical  of actual or proposed use, or,
where applicable, under controlled  laboratory conditions  which simulate
actual use.

     (2)  The test  substance  should  be the formulated product evaluated
at various dosage levels including those dosage rates associated with its
proposed use. It should be tested under all techniques intended to be used
in applying the product.

     (3)  Data on the compatibility  of the test substance with other sub-
stances will be developed in accordance with OPPTS  810.1000 if the test
substance will be used in sequence or with another substance.

     (4) Data should demonstrate the effect of the test substance on various
life stages of pests and  other significant factors. The data should clearly
establish the method of action of the test substance in repelling, destroying,
or mitigating pests.

     (5) The efficacy of the  test substance should be established with ref-
erence to the applicable suggested performance standard.

     (i) The  suggested performance standards contained in the following
guidelines are generally stated in terms of percent control, based on a com-
parison of treated organisms and  untreated control organisms. In certain
situations, the test substance may be evaluated in comparison to a product
of known efficacy. Under  some other circumstances, the  performance
standards are expressed as acceptable levels of damage.

     (ii)  The conditions under which the suggested performance standards
apply are listed in the following guidelines. These performance standards
are not intended to be absolute or inflexible.

     (iii) An analysis of variance  and multiple range test  or other appro-
priate statistical analysis should be  conducted to determine the reliability
of data, when a question  of relative effectiveness occurs.

     (6)  Dose  response  data should accompany applicable  site/pest crop
combinations. The benefits such as  increased yield, unblemished fruit, re-
duction in nuisance pest levels to  be  derived from each dosage rate to
be registered for control  of a particular pest should be clearly  defined and

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reported. Dose response data for crops  other than the pesticide site/pest
combination will be considered if submitted and referenced.

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