US EPA takes next step in review process for insecticide chlorpyrifos, making draft risk assessments available

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking an important step in the Agency’s review of chlorpyrifos. Meeting an important commitment made in the Agency’s July 2019 response to the related petition denial, EPA has released its draft risk assessments for chlorpyrifos for public review. These draft risk assessments are the next stage in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registration review process and are not a denial or approval of the insecticide.

The draft risk assessments are the product of an extensive evaluation of available data on chlorpyrifos’s health and environmental impacts. Specific findings include:

- The revised human health risk assessment identifies dietary (including children) and occupational handler risks of concern and incorporates the updated drinking water assessment.

- With the limited remaining residential uses of chlorpyrifos EPA found no risks of concern, including to children’s health, when products are used according to the label instructions.

- The Agency’s draft ecological risk assessment identifies potential adverse effects to mammals, birds, fish, and terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates.

Full details on these potential risks and EPA’s methods for estimating them can be found within the revised human health and draft ecological risk assessments located on the Agency’s website.

EPA will take public comment on the draft risk assessments (DRAs) during the same 60-day public comment period that the Agency plans to open when it issues its Proposed Interim Decision (PID) in October 2020. The PID, which is the next step in the FIFRA process, will outline potential risk management options for this insecticide to address any potential risks of concern identified in the DRAs.

By holding the comment period at the same time as the Proposed Interim Decision, the public will have access to more information on chlorpyrifos and can provide the Agency with more informed, robust comments. EPA will review and respond to comments for both documents prior to issuing an Interim Decision.

EPA will also consider the input and recommendations from the September 2020 FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) meeting once the SAP report is released in December 2020. Depending on the SAP’s conclusions, EPA may further revise the human health risk assessment. After a thorough review of the best available science and carefully considering scientific peer review and public comments, EPA will then determine the next steps in the registration review process for chlorpyrifos.