UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
OFFICE
OF
PREVENTION,
PESTICIDES
AND
TOXIC
SUBSTANCES
August
10,
2001
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Review
of
Pronamide
Incident
Reports
DP
Barcode
D276937,
Chemical
#101701
FROM:
Jerome
Blondell,
Ph.
D.,
Health
Statistician
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
1
Health
Effects
Division
(7509C)

Monica
F.
Spann,
M.
P.
H.,
Environmental
Health
Scientist
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
1
Health
Effects
Division
(7509C)

THRU:
Francis
B.
Suhre,
Senior
Scientist
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
1
Health
Effects
Division
(7509C)

TO:
Gary
Bangs,
Industrial
Hygienist
Reregistration
Branch
3
Health
Effects
Division
(7509C)

BACKGROUND
The
following
data
bases
have
been
consulted
for
the
poisoning
incident
data
on
the
active
ingredient
Pronamide
(PC
Code:
101701):

1)
OPP
Incident
Data
System
(IDS)
­
reports
of
incidents
from
various
sources,
including
registrants,
other
federal
and
state
health
and
environmental
agencies
and
individual
consumers,
submitted
to
OPP
since
1992.
Reports
submitted
to
the
Incident
Data
System
represent
anecdotal
reports
or
allegations
only,
unless
otherwise
stated.
Typically
no
conclusions
can
be
drawn
implicating
the
pesticide
as
a
cause
of
any
of
the
reported
health
effects.
Nevertheless,
sometimes
with
enough
cases
and/
or
enough
documentation
risk
mitigation
measures
may
be
suggested.
2
2)
Poison
Control
Centers
­
as
the
result
of
a
data
purchase
by
EPA,
OPP
received
Poison
Control
Center
data
covering
the
years
1993
through
1998
for
all
pesticides.
Most
of
the
national
Poison
Control
Centers
(PCCs)
participate
in
a
national
data
collection
system,
the
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System
which
obtains
data
from
about
65­
70
centers
at
hospitals
and
universities.
PCCs
provide
telephone
consultation
for
individuals
and
health
care
providers
on
suspected
poisonings,
involving
drugs,
household
products,
pesticides,
etc.

3)
California
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulation
­
California
has
collected
uniform
data
on
suspected
pesticide
poisonings
since
1982.
Physicians
are
required,
by
statute,
to
report
to
their
local
health
officer
all
occurrences
of
illness
suspected
of
being
related
to
exposure
to
pesticides.
The
majority
of
the
incidents
involve
workers.
Information
on
exposure
(worker
activity),
type
of
illness
(systemic,
eye,
skin,
eye/
skin
and
respiratory),
likelihood
of
a
causal
relationship,
and
number
of
days
off
work
and
in
the
hospital
are
provided.

4)
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(NPTN)
­
NPTN
is
a
toll­
free
information
service
supported
by
OPP.
A
ranking
of
the
top
200
active
ingredients
for
which
telephone
calls
were
received
during
calendar
years
1984­
1991,
inclusive
has
been
prepared.
The
total
number
of
calls
was
tabulated
for
the
categories
human
incidents,
animal
incidents,
calls
for
information,
and
others.

PRONAMIDE
REVIEW
I.
Incident
Data
System
There
were
no
reported
cases
of
incidents
related
to
pronamide
in
the
Incident
Data
System
where
it
alone
was
responsible
for
an
incident.

II.
Poison
Control
Center
Data
­
1993
through
1998
Results
for
the
years
1993
through
1998
were
acquired
for
1
exposure
to
pronamide
reported
to
Poison
Control
Centers.
Cases
involving
exposures
to
multiple
products
are
excluded.
No
cases
were
reported
among
children
under
six
years
of
age
or
among
older
children
and
adults
exposed
at
their
workplace.
This
was
too
few
cases
to
warrant
detailed
analysis.
There
was
1
nonoccupationally
exposed
case
among
older
children
and
adults
which
was
not
reported
to
have
symptoms
related
to
their
exposure
and
was
not
seen
in
a
health
care
facility.
One
should
be
cautious
about
drawing
conclusions
from
such
a
small
number
of
cases
3
III.
California
Data
­
1982
through
1999
Detailed
descriptions
of
2
cases
submitted
to
the
California
Pesticide
Illness
Surveillance
Program
(1982­
1999)
were
reviewed.
In
the
first
case,
a
worker
applied
the
product
on
the
ground
for
ten
days
and
reported
malaise,
anorexia,
fatigue,
dizziness,
nausea,
and
vomiting.
In
the
second
case,
one
of
two
workers
moved
an
irrigation
pipe
in
a
field
and
later
reported
dizziness,
vomiting,
and
weakness.
Both
cases
were
categorized
as
`possible',
meaning
the
exposure
was
a
possible
cause
of
the
reported
symptoms.

IV.
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
On
the
list
of
the
top
200
chemicals
for
which
NPTN
received
calls
from
1984­
1991
inclusively,
pronamide
was
not
reported
to
be
involved
in
human
incidents.

VI.
Conclusions
Very
few
illness
cases
have
been
reported
due
to
pronamide
and
none
have
been
confirmed.

VII.
Recommendations
No
recommendations
can
be
made
on
the
very
limited
incident
data
available
for
this
pesticide.

cc:
Correspondence
Pronamide
file
(chemical
no.
101701)
Lori
Montford,
SRRD
­
(7508C)
