Implementing the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act - Fiscal Year 2017 Fourteenth Annual Report S7>% % PRO^ March 1, 2018 ------- Table 2 PRIA Funded Pesticide Partnership Activities in FY 2017 Partnership Cooperative Agreement National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) $500,000 NPIC responds to public inquiries regarding pesticide related issues such as pesticide product usage, pest identification, health effects, and enforcement contacts. The program provides unbiased, accurate information and responses to inquiries through a toll-free, bi- lingual telephone information service, an extensive website, and individual outreach and training. General pesticide-related inquiries, including questions on the risks associated with a pesticide, usage restrictions, and local contact information for enforcement of pesticide regulations are addressed by trained experts in toxicology, environmental health and science, public health, and veterinary medicine. Callers contacting the program regarding medical or veterinary emergencies are promptly relayed to appropriate poison control programs for emergency medical assistance. Suspected non-emergency cases of a potentially adverse effect from pesticide exposures are offered a rapid response, including risk mitigation information and enforcement contacts when appropriate. The program also provides a route for veterinarians, clinicians, state environmental, agricultural and public health offices, consumers, parents, researchers, and members of the public to report suspected pesticide incidents to a national database. The NPIC program provides data and analysis of inquiries and potential incidents for EPA. This helps support national pesticide surveillance efforts, enforcement priority setting, and EPA risk assessment analysis. Inquiries: Last year, NPIC received 11,337 inquiries. Seventy-one percent (71%) of the inquiries were received between April and October, concurrent with the part of the year when the pest pressures are highest. Most of the inquiries (5,636) were informational inquiries about pesticides or related issues. NPIC staff documented and reviewed 1,903 pesticide-related incidents. In these cases, NPIC provided appropriate local referrals for enforcement, as needed. The majority of inquiries to NPIC are from the general public. Of the 11,337 inquiries received, there were 9,966 (88%) from the general public, 256 (2.3%) from federal, state or local government agencies, 214 (1.9%) from pesticide manufacturers, and 159 (1.5%) from human and animal medical personnel. There were numerous (256) governmental, health and regulatory entities that contacted NPIC during the grant year. Health agencies include health departments and USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) personnel. Government agencies include city, county, and other government entities without enforcement roles. Enforcement agencies include EPA, state pesticide regulatory agencies, and police, among others. Types of Inquiries: The questions received at NPIC are most often related to health (e.g., effects, risk, etc.) and application (e.g., methods, label clarity, etc.). "Other" questions (1,960) include all wrong numbers and people seeking their pest control companies. Questions about regulations (1,149) range from "How do I get a new product registered?" to "Can the authorities make my neighbor stop spraying?" Questions about how to follow pesticide label directions were coded as 'Application' questions (1,569). People contacted NPIC in order to report a pesticide incident 216 times with no specific question. In these cases, ------- NPIC provides appropriate local referrals for enforcement, as needed. Inquiries may often involve more than one type of question. Inquirers asked 13,959 questions during this grant year in the course of 11,337 inquiries. Website Updates and Deliverables: The NPIC web site attracted more than 2.8 million unique visitors viewing 6,417,637 pages during this period. The most popular search terms used were "diatomaceous earth," "DDT,' and "glyphosate." Visits to the web site varied greatly in duration, with 126,747 visits lasting longer than 15 minutes. The average visit duration was approximately 2 minutes. NPIC engaged with over 200 organizations through social media, including extension agencies, health departments, master gardeners, bee advocates, and professional associations like the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and the Entomological Society of America. NPIC developed 12 new videos this year, including a video addressing nine frequently asked questions, three webinars, and a video for parents about how to prevent pesticide poisonings. NPIC developed four new fact sheets, including one that explains the "half-life" concept, and developed four new PestiByte podcasts and two new FAQ comics this year NPIC maintains current contact lists for many organizations in order to provide the best local referrals. Last year, in preparation for questions about the revised Worker Protection Standard (WPS), NPIC called every state and territory to identify the best contact for WPS questions. ------- |