{"id":34714,"date":"2024-03-06T00:01:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T05:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=34714"},"modified":"2024-03-09T08:02:35","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T13:02:35","slug":"inspector-general-finds-widely-used-flea-collars-still-not-fully-evaluated-by-epa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/03\/inspector-general-finds-widely-used-flea-collars-still-not-fully-evaluated-by-epa\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspector General Finds Widely Used Flea Collars Still Not Fully Evaluated by EPA\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/span><\/i>, March 6, 2024) With over<\/span> 2,500 pet deaths and 900 reports of adverse effects to people, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, published on February 29, 2024, reveals multiple systemic failures by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), citing inadequate safety reviews of Seresto pet collars. The report, <\/span>The EPA Needs to Determine Whether Seresto Pet Collars Pose an Unreasonable Risk to Pet Health<\/span><\/a>, concludes, \u201c<\/span>The EPA\u2019s response to reported pesticide incidents involving Seresto pet collars has not provided assurance that they can be used without posing unreasonable adverse effects to the environment, including pets.\u201d<\/span> At the time the animal effects made headlines in 2021, <\/span>the agency<\/span> defended the product\u2019s registration<\/span>,<\/span><\/a> telling the media that, despite these incidents, EPA deemed Seresto collars \u201c\u2018eligible for continued registration\u2019 based on best available science, including incident data… No pesticide is completely without harm, but EPA ensures that there are measures on the product label that reduce risk.\u201d\u202fDespite the scathing criticism, EPA maintains the position that it conducted an adequate review of the two active insecticide ingredients in the pet collars\u2014the neurotoxic insecticide\u202f<\/span>flumethrin<\/span><\/a>, and the notorious neonicotinoid\u202f<\/span>imidacloprid<\/span><\/a>\u2014proven to have adverse effects on the endocrine system as environmental contaminants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the report, the OIG states, \u201c<\/span>Specifically, the OPP [Office of Pesticide Programs] did not conduct domestic animal risk assessments for either flumethrin or imidacloprid as it had committed to do in initial and final work plans for both pesticides. Furthermore, according to a long-tenured EPA scientist we interviewed, the EPA\u2019s 1998 Guideline 870.7200 for companion animal safety studies is inadequate, and the OPP lacks standard operating procedures and a methodology to help determine when pet products may pose unreasonable adverse effects to the environment.\u201d With this statement, the <\/span>report calls out EPA for its failure to adequately assess the safety of Seresto flea and tick collars, originally formulated by Bayer and now manufactured by Elanco. The OIG demands that EPA, \u201c<\/span>I<\/span>ssue amended proposed interim registration review decisions for both flumethrin and imidacloprid that include domestic animal risk assessments for flumethrin and imidacloprid; written determinations on whether the Seresto pet collar poses unreasonable adverse effects in pets; and an explanation of how the Office of Pesticide Programs came to its determinations. Allow for public comment by placing these documents in the applicable registration review dockets.\u201d EPA <\/span>defends its process<\/span><\/a> and points to mitigation measures it adopted and announced in July 2023. The agency says that it was unable to determine the cause of the animal deaths, except for some possible <\/span>mechanical strangulations that were associated with a failure of the collar\u2019s release mechanism.<\/span> However, the agency did find some neurological effects and struck an agreement with Elanco to issue label warnings and improve the quality of incident data collected by the manufacturer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The New Lede<\/span><\/i> reported<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThe (Seresto) collars have been the subject of more than 105,354 incident reports, including the 3,000 pet deaths, more than any other EPA regulated product in history, according to the EPA\u2019s incident database.\u201d The OIG investigation began in response to these and \u201cnearly 900 reports of human pesticide incidents related to the Seresto pet collars\u201d received from 2012 through 2022.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Synergistic Effects of Flumethrin and Immidacloprid Not Evaluated<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Beyond Pesticides <\/span>previously reported<\/span><\/a>, Seresto collars are plastic pet collars embedded with pesticides designed to kill fleas, ticks, and lice by emitting the poisons from the collar; they contain the active ingredients <\/span>flumethrin<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>imidacloprid<\/span><\/a>. Flumethrin, a chemical in the <\/span>pyrethroid class of synthetic neurotoxic insecticides<\/span><\/a>, has been linked repeatedly to neurological issues, such as seizures and learning disabilities in children, to gastrointestinal distress, and to damage to invertebrates, according to EPA\u2019s <\/span>own analysis<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>In a March 2021 call to action, Beyond Pesticides reported that a <\/span>2012 study<\/span><\/a> found [flumethrin and imidacloprid] have a synergistic effect, meaning they are more toxic together on fleas. However, EPA consistently fails to evaluate synergistic effects of pesticides, <\/span>a 2016\u202f<\/span>EPA bulletin concluded<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThe risk of the combination of the two active ingredients, flumethrin and imidacloprid, was not assessed because the two chemicals act in completely different ways.\u201d Similarly, as Beyond Pesticides has pointed out repeatedly, EPA does not do an adequate job of evaluating the <\/span>risks and harms of exposures to multiple pesticide compounds<\/span><\/a>, as well as <\/span>those of so-called\u00a0 \u201cinert\u201d or \u201cother\u201d pesticide ingredients<\/span><\/a> that are not disclosed on the product label.<\/span>\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nAs the OIG report discovered in its findings, EPA demonstrated:\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n