46 Pesticide Brands to No Longer Be Available in State

Manufacturers of 46 pesticide brands--including wood preservatives, rat bait and bug sprays--will no longer be able to sell the products in California, state regulators said Thursday.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation said it is suspending registration of the selected products because the makers failed to meet a March 30 deadline to complete studies on their health risks.

Many of the products will still be available to consumers for the short term. Retailers will have two years to sell off their stocks and customers can continue to use them.

In some cases, manufacturers may reformulate the products to eliminate the problem ingredients.

The suspended products contain one of five compounds: creosote, which is used to preserve wood; chloroneb, a fungicide used on cottonseed, bean seed and sugar beet seed; diphacinone, used in rodent baits; a formaldehyde used to disinfect poultry houses, and aromatic petroleum distillates used in several insecticides.

An additional 53 products containing the same ingredients will still be allowed because they were determined by the state to have “limited use and insignificant human exposure.”

Importation of creosote-treated wood from other states will still be allowed.

Department spokeswoman Veda Federighi said the required studies on creosote are expected to be completed next year. Once they are done, manufacturers could resume sales, she said.

James Wells, director of pesticide regulation, said other products may be suspended within the next several weeks if data submitted at the last minute prove inadequate or indicate a serious health risk.

“The public can be sure that if the data show a product needs to be made safer, and we can’t find ways to change use practices to achieve that additional safety, we will cancel the product’s registration,” Wells said in a statement.