Exposure to bystanders resulting from pesticide spray drift and volatilization is a potential Environmental Justice concern. This must be taken into account in pesticide risk assessments. In 2014 EPA developed methods to estimate risks from these types of exposures. The spray drift method considers the potential risks for those who live adjacent to pesticide applications. It is based on peer reviewed methods including the AgDrift model and EPA's SOPs For Residential Exposure Assessment. Volatile fumigant pesticides have been previously considered in pesticide risk assessment using available air monitoring data and a peer reviewed dispersion model (PERFUM). EPA used a similar approach for screening conventional pesticides to identify where additional data may be needed to evaluate risks from potential exposures due to volatilization that may occur. This screening analysis relied upon predicted emission values because air monitoring data are generally not available for conventional pesticides.

EPA pesticide risk assessment methods for spray drift and volatilization

248th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.