EPA Extends Comment Period For Organic Arsenicals
17 November 2006 MAATF believes that the crop and turf uses of the organic arsenicals meet both the FIFRA risk-benefit standard and the FQPA safety standard. The Office of Pesticide Program requires that arsenic found in surface water due to use of the organic arsenicals will not exceed 0.02 ppb. This concentration is undetectable and 500 times lower than the levels of arsenic allowed by EPA in drinking water, and more than 10,000 times lower than natural levels in the water in certain areas in the US. Studies conducted in those areas did not find any health effects related to arsenic exposure, according to a MAATF release.
"MSMA, DSMA, and CAMA control certain weed problems in cotton and turf like no other herbicides," the MAATF release stated. "For example, there are no alternative selective postemergence herbicides available for control of mature crabgrass and tropical signalgrass weeds. Using organic arsenicals in weed-control spray programs helps to control weeds that have become resistant to other herbicides, and makes these products key tools for integrated pest management (IPM) programs. In addition, cacodylic acid is a unique cotton defoliant that is important to cotton production, and is also used as a turf edger and for turf renovation." MAATF urges organic arsenical users to submit their own comments. Draft comment letters for turf producers and managers and cotton growers, as well as instructions for submitting comments, are available on the MAATF’s website, www.maatf.com.
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