U.S. to Make Airlines Tell of Pesticide Spraying

The Clinton Administration on Thursday identified 25 countries that require airlines to spray a roach-killing pesticide on inbound airline passengers and said it is drafting a proposal that would require advance notification of the practice when passengers buy their tickets.

Responding to pressure from lawmakers and the public, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said he will issue a regulation requiring U.S.-based and foreign airlines and travel agents who book such flights to alert customers to the possible danger.

Pena said travelers should take account of the information in making their plans. “Hopefully,” he said, “this information will . . . lead many countries, especially those dependent on U.S. tourists, to consider the spraying requirement.”

The spraying of the pesticide d-phenothrin in closed airline cabins, an insect-control measure required by many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, is likely to pose a health threat to people who are sensitive to certain industrial chemicals, federal health officials have concluded. There is also evidence that it exacerbates the conditions of those with chronic respiratory problems.

Cans of the pesticide sold commercially for use in the home are labeled with a warning: “Avoid breathing; avoid contact with skin and eyes.”

U.S.-based air carriers and the travel industry have opposed any regulation requiring them to notify passengers of the spraying, and Pena initially resisted issuing such a rule. But on Thursday, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) threatened to offer an amendment to the Transportation Department authorization bill that would have barred flights to and from any countries that have not provided the United States with information on their “disinsection” policies.

After Pena reversed his position and promised to propose the regulation, Leahy dropped his amendment.

According to the list issued by the Transportation Department, these countries require airline passengers to be sprayed with pesticide before getting off inbound planes: Costa Rica, Madagascar, Antigua, Belize, the Congo, Grenada, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Yemen, Mexico, Mozambique, American Samoa (a U.S. trust territory), Cape Verde (a frequent stopover point for flights to South Africa), the Dominican Republic, India, New Caledonia, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Argentina, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, El Salvador, Kenya and Nicaragua.

Australia, New Zealand and Panama also require spraying of the pesticide in airline cabins but allow it to be done before passengers have boarded.

It would be at least a year before the proposed rule took effect.