By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

RALEIGH, N.C. — The company that produces and distributes the pesticide azinphosmethyl (AZM), a mainstay for several fruit and nut crops, strongly denies the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) claim that farm workers are negatively affected by the chemical.<br>
Makhteshim Agan of North America (MANA), an Israeli company, has been producing and distributing the active ingredient for the brand Guthion for approximately 20 years. Last year it bought the Guthion name from Bayer CropScience. Right now Guthion is scheduled to be canceled in September 2012 for use on cherries, blueberries, apples, pears and several other crops.<br>
Between now and then, its use on these crops will become increasingly restricted. For example, aerial spraying of Guthion on blueberries will be prohibited, beginning at the end of 2009.<br>
The EPA believes AZM poses a high health risk to farm workers, as well as “significant acute ecological risks.” An ecological risk might include, for example, beneficial insects being killed by a pesticide. The EPA cites studies that showed farm workers who were exposed to AZM experienced an inhibition of cholinesterase in their blood, which can cause a variety of symptoms, including stomach cramps and dizziness.<br>
MANA rejected the EPA’s risk assessment in 2006.<br>
“Our position is that they are miscalculating and overestimating the risk to farm workers,” said Ephi Gur, vice president for regulatory and scientific affairs at MANA. “There are two workers out of a few hundred tested that were adversely affected.”<br>
Gur said the farm workers who were overexposed to AZM in a study were found to have mishandled the chemical. For example, they failed to wear gloves, or worked around the chemical longer than they were supposed to.<br>
According to a farm worker exposure study conducted by the state of Washington, in which blood samples were taken, only one monitored farm worker had a significantly depressed cholinesterase (ChE) level in 2005, and two in 2004. The chances of a worker experiencing greater than 20 percent depression of ChE was low. Most of the overexposure to AZM occurred during dormant-season spraying of tree fruits, which the AZM product label forbids, Gur said.<br>
According to the study summary provided by MANA, “for all pesticides, the state of Washington found numerous violations involving the lack of an appropriate respirator cartridge, and not wearing appropriate resistant headgear when required by the pesticide label.” Also, a report on pesticide-related illnesses in California, produced by that state’s Department of Pesticide Regulations, reported only one possible farm worker illness associated with exposure to AZM between 1999-2004.<br>
Despite this, as well as a 54-page letter the company sent to the EPA in 2006 protesting the agency’s risk assessment process, Gur said MANA came to an agreement with the agency regarding the fate of AZM, though he declined to provide details.<br>
“MANA was aware of the AZM status prior to buying the Guthion business, and has made the decision to support the product as long as growers need it and EPA allows us to maintain it,” Gur said. “We are currently involved in transition teams and if viable alternatives are not found, there is an opening for extending the uses for as long as needed to develop such alternatives, pending EPA’s approval.”<br>
To view any of the documents regarding the phase-out of AZM, go to www.regulations.gov online and type in EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0061.