SECTION: NEWS;Pg. A-1

LENGTH: 757 words

HEADLINE: EPA orders phaseout of a popular pesticide; Dursban home use over; crop application curbed

BYLINE: Dori Meinert; COPLEY NEWS SERVICE | The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BODY:
WASHINGTON -- After her Del Mar home was sprayed for termites seven years ago, Janie Emerson's life began to fall apart.

She couldn't eat. She couldn't sleep. She experienced blurred vision, leg cramps and memory loss. To this day, the 53-year-old business consultant remains so sensitive to chemicals that she avoids business trips to California's wine country, where pesticides are sprayed. Emerson's complaints -- and thousands like them nationwide -- moved pesticide critics to call on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the use of chlorpyrifos, sold under the trade names Dursban and Lorsban.

After an extensive scientific study, the EPA yesterday announced the phaseout of the commonly used pesticide in homes and gardens, and restricted its use on some agricultural crops.

"It is particularly good news for children, who are among the most vulnerable to the risks posed by pesticides," said EPA Administrator Carol Browner.

More than 20 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are applied annually in the United States, about half of which is used in homes and on lawns and gardens.

Although the agency didn't require a product recall, Browner said she expects the insecticide to be off store shelves by the end of this year.

The six manufacturers of the pesticide have agreed to stop producing it for residential use by January. Its use also would be prohibited at schools, day-care centers and other areas frequented by children. By the end of 2001, professional exterminators would be banned from using it in other types of buildings as well.

Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co., is the largest of the six makers of the pesticide.

The EPA move is part of a systematic review of all pesticides under the controversial 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which set tough safety standards designed to protect children.

The agricultural community views the new review process with distrust.

Yesterday's action will have some effect on California growers. It bans use of chlorpyrifos on tomato crops and curtails its usage on apples and grapes.

These restrictions are designed to eliminate the chemical's residues on foods often consumed by children. The pesticide may still be used on a variety of grains and other crops.

However, the EPA will continue to review chlorpyrifos' use on other crops in the coming months -- and that worries California farmers.

Chlorpyrifos is the main weapon used against the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an insect that has infested 10 Southern California counties, including San Diego and Los Angeles, and poses a threat to California's grape industry.

In addition, the EPA is continuing to review some 45 other pesticides known as organophosphates, which can affect the nervous system. Organophosphates, which include chlorpyrifos, were derived from World War II nerve-gas technology.

After the review is complete, the EPA will assess the cumulative effects of the pesticides, which could restrict their usage further.

"The bigger concern we have is really about the process that the EPA is following," said Bob Krauter, spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation. "We're at the very beginning of some 9,700 pesticide tolerances to be reviewed under the Food Quality Protection Act. What else is coming down the pike?"

The farm federation is supporting legislation pending in Congress that would revise the 1996 law and require more scientific proof before the EPA could limit pesticide uses.

Dow AgroSciences Vice President Elin Miller contends that the product is safe if used properly, but said "it no longer made sense in the current regulatory environment" to keep producing it for residential use.

Environmentalists complained that the EPA should have banned all uses of chlorpyrifos immediately and called on major stores to pull it from their shelves.

"When the EPA identifies hazards, it should stop their use," said Jay Feldman, executive director of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. "It's a buyer-beware situation. We're urging people to stop buying and selling this product."

But Browner said negotiations with the manufacturers ensured the fastest action possible, adding that legal action against the companies would have taken at least five years.

For Janie Emerson, who said she was was overexposed to Dursban when it seeped into her home's ventilation system, it's not fast enough. She had to move eight times in 12 months before she could find a house and yard that hadn't been sprayed.



GRAPHIC: 2 PICS | 1 CHART; 1. John Gastaldo / Union-Tribune 3. Seth Perlman / Associated Press; 1. Janie Emerson sat with her dog on the porch of her La Jolla Shores home yesterday. Emerson's overexposure to Dursban, which she blames for her health problems, helped lead the government to ban the commonly used pesticide. 2. Check the label 3. Dave Stidman of Petersburg, Ill., sold his all-natural, pesticide-free produce out of the back of his truck yesterday in Chatham, Ill. The EPA yesterday banned the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. (A-16)

LOAD-DATE: June 13, 2000