Most Chlordane Sales to End by Nov. 30
In a victory for environmentalists, federal officials announced Thursday that most sales of chlordane would be halted by Nov. 30 and that all other sales of the termite-killer, which is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals, would end within eight months.
The agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Velsicol Chemical Corp., the manufacturer of the product, was disclosed in federal court and came in response to a lawsuit filed by environmentalists seeking an immediate ban on all uses of chlordane.
Although U.S. District Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer is not expected to rule for 45 days on the request for a ban, he indicated that the last-minute settlement between the EPA and the chemical company would likely remove the need for him to intervene in the case and grant an injunction.
Under the agreement, chlordane cannot be sold to non-certified applicators or used within or underneath homes beyond Nov. 30. However, the pesticide can continue to be used by licensed pest control firms on the perimeters or outer foundations of homes until April 30.
Paula Dinerstein, an attorney representing several environmentalist groups, expressed disappointment that the agreement would not halt use of chlordane immediately, saying that the agency had ignored the “public health emergency” posed by a product, which has been used in 30 million homes. Still, she predicted that consumers would benefit in the long run.
“If all we’ve done is stop a small number of homes from being treated with this product, and being subject to its health effects, we consider that a victory,” Dinerstein said. “We didn’t get exactly what we were looking for . . . but we got something.”
The issue surfaced last August, when EPA officials announced that they had reached an agreement with Velsicol to halt production of chlordane until new tests showed that it could be used safely. Company officials have insisted that their product is safe but agreed to the action when EPA tests earlier this year showed that 3 of every 1,000 people living in a home properly treated with chlordane run the risk of developing cancer.
However, the agreement does not restrict the sale or use of the existing stocks of chlordane, a supply estimated by industry officials to last for about 60 days.
EPA Reports Hoarding
Critics charged that the government in fact has no idea how much chlordane is available across the nation and pointed to EPA reports indicating that pest control suppliers had begun hoarding large amounts of the product immediately after the Aug. 11 agreement was announced.
Stan Abramson, an EPA attorney, said that “we might have underestimated the amount of supplies out there” but added that the government’s new agreement with Velsicol would “deal very effectively” with the remaining inventories. Under the settlement, there would be “an orderly” phase-out of the product, he said.
Chlordane, a colorless liquid, is typically injected into the soil, pumped through the foundations or placed in dirt-covered trenches around a building. Humans are exposed to the chemical when its residues vaporize and seep into a building, usually through air ducts or spaces underneath a house.
Agency officials have said that the product will not be allowed back onto the market unless tests of new application techniques show that chlordane vapors no longer seep into homes.
