Oxadixyl RED Facts
This fact sheet serves as and explains EPA's tolerance reassessment decision for oxadixyl, which consists of a voluntary cancellation of this pesticide. Oxadixyl was scheduled for tolerance reassessment in 2002; however, during 2001, the registrants of oxadixyl requested voluntary cancellation. The following provides background information on pesticide registration, reregistration, and tolerance reassessment, an overview of the uses of oxadixyl, and a summary of the terms of its cancellation. Because of the voluntary cancellation decision, EPA did not complete risk assessments for oxadixyl and will not issue a tolerance reassessment decision document for this pesticide.
Pesticide Registration and Reregistration
All pesticides sold or distributed in the United States must be registered by EPA, based on scientific studies showing that they can be used without posing unreasonable risks to people or the environment. Because of advances in scientific knowledge, the law requires that pesticides which were first registered before November 1, 1984, be reregistered to ensure that they meet today's more stringent standards.
To implement provisions of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA), EPA considers the special sensitivity of infants and children to pesticides, as well as aggregate exposure of the public to pesticide residues from all sources, and the cumulative effects of pesticides and other compounds with common mechanisms of toxicity. The Agency develops any mitigation measures or regulatory controls needed to effectively reduce each pesticide's risks. EPA then reregisters pesticides that meet the safety standard of the FQPA, and can be used without posing unreasonable risks to human health or the environment.
Tolerance Reassessment Decisions
EPA issues a TRED (Tolerance Reassessment Eligibility Decision) for a pesticide that requires tolerance reassessment decisions, but does not require a reregistration eligibility decision at present because: (1) the pesticide was initially registered after November 1, 1984, and by law is not included within the scope of the reregistration program; (2) EPA completed a RED for the pesticide before FQPA was enacted on August 3, 1996; or (3) the pesticide is not registered for use in the U.S. but tolerances are established that allow crops treated with the pesticide to be imported from other countries. TREDs for pesticides that are part of a cumulative group, such as the organophosphates, will not become final until EPA considers the cumulative risks of all the pesticides in the group.
Oxadixyl [2-methoxy-N-(2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidin-3-yl)-acet-2',6'-xylidide] is a systemic fungicide used to treat seeds of a variety of food crops, as well as vetch, golf course turf, and residential lawns. Originally registered in 1992, oxadixyl was not subject to reregistration, but required tolerance reassessment decisions as a result of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996.
As a systemic fungicide for seed treatment, oxadixyl is used to control downy mildew, damping-off (phytophthora, pythium), seed rot (pythium), and phytophthora pest species in/on alfalfa, barley, beans, beets (garden), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, buckwheat, cabbage, carrot (including tops), cauliflower, celery, clover, collards, corn (field corn, pop corn, sweet corn), cotton, cucumber, eggplant, gourds, grass forage/fodder/hay, kale, kohlrabi, lespedeza, lettuce, lupine, melons (water melons, cantaloupe), millet (proso- broomcorn), mustard, oats, parsley, parsnip, peas, pepper (chili type), pimento, pumpkin, radish, rape, rhubarb, rutabaga, rye, sorghum, soybeans, spinach, squash (summer, winter), sugar beet, sunflower, tomato, trefoil, triticale, turnip, vetch, golf course turf, and residential lawns.
Tolerances for oxadixyl exist on the following commodities: cotton seed, peas, soybeans, sunflower seed, fruiting vegetables, cucurbit vegetables, leafy vegetables, Brassica, root and tuber vegetables, cereal grains, grass forage, fodder and hay group, and non-grass animal feeds.
Oxadixyl was scheduled for a tolerance reassessment eligibility decision in 2002. However, in May and June 2001, the registrants that support oxadixyl requested voluntary cancellation, citing a decline in demand for these products.
EPA published a Federal Register notice on August 15, 2001, announcing the Agency's receipt of the oxadixyl registrants' request for voluntary cancellation, and inviting the public to comment during the next 30 days (until September 14, 2001). No comments were submitted. A cancellation order for all oxadixyl products was signed by the Agency on September 27, 2001, for subsequent publication in the Federal Register. These Federal Register notices are available on EPA's web site at EPA's Federal Register.
All oxadixyl product registrations are cancelled effective September 27, 2001.
Sale and distribution of existing stocks may continue until September 27, 2002, one year after the effective date of the cancellation order, except for the purpose of shipping such stocks for export or proper disposal.
Use of existing stocks by people other than the registrants may continue until such stocks are exhausted.
Instead of issuing a tolerance reassessment decision document, EPA will propose to revoke tolerances for oxadixyl in a future Federal Register notice.
For More Information
For additional information regarding the voluntary cancellation of oxadixyl, visit the EPA website at Pesticide Tolerance Reassessment and Reregistration or Pesticide Reregistration Status .