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Pesticide News Story: Captan Amended RED Available for Comment; Cancer Classification Changed
In a Federal Register notice published on November 24, 2004, EPA announced the availability of an Amendment to the 1999 Captan Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) and opened a public comment period, closing January 24, 2005, on these changes. In addition, the Agency announced the results of its reevaluation of captan’s cancer classification. This reevaluation does not amend or change the conclusions of the Captan RED. First registered in 1951, the fungicide captan currently is used to control diseases on orchard crops, ornamentals, and turf, and also is used for seed treatments and as an in-can preservative in adhesives and paint. Captan is severely irritating to the eyes and until recently was classified as a probable human carcinogen.In the Amendment to the Captan RED, EPA has modified certain captan labeling requirements in response to public comments and new data submitted by an industry task force. These modifications strengthen the protections for workers regarding eye irritation, change restricted entry intervals, and change some uses (see the RED amendment for details).
EPA also has changed captan’s cancer classification, based on new data submitted by the Captan Task Force (CTF). In September 2003, a Peer Review Panel of outside experts reviewed the captan cancer mode of action data and concluded that captan acted through a non-genotoxic threshold mode of action. The new cancer classification reflects the Agency’s conclusion that captan is a potential carcinogen only at prolonged high doses that are significantly greater than those likely to be consumed in the diet or encountered in occupational or residential settings. The Agency has concluded that captan is not likely to be a human carcinogen or to pose cancer risks of concern when used in accordance with approved product labeling.
Additional information on the cancer classification change is available in the November 24, 2004, Federal Register notice on EPA’s Web site at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2004/November/Day-24/p26083.htm . The Amendment to the 1999 Captan RED is available in the captan docket or the Federal Docket Management System at www.regulations.gov #OPP-2004-0296, or on the Agency’s reregistration status web page, http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm.