UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
OFFICE
OF
PREVENTION,
PESTICIDES
AND
TOXIC
SUBSTANCES
October
12,
2005
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Review
of
Imazaquin
Incident
Reports
DP
Barcode
D321563,
Chemical
128840,
128848,
129023
FROM:
Monica
S.
Hawkins,
M.
P.
H.,
Environmental
Health
Scientist
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

THRU:
Jerome
Blondell,
Ph.
D.,
Health
Statistician
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

TO:
Susan
Stanton
Reregistration
Branch
3
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

BACKGROUND
The
following
data
bases
have
been
consulted
for
the
poisoning
incident
data
on
the
active
ingredient
imazaquin
(
128840,
128848,
129023):

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
documentation
risk
mitigation
measures
may
be
suggested.

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.
2
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
Information
Center
(
NPIC)
­
NPIC
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.

5)
National
Institute
of
Occupational
Safety
and
Health's
Sentinel
Event
Notification
System
for
Occupational
Risks
(
NIOSH
SENSOR)
performs
standardized
surveillance
in
seven
states
from
1998
through
2002.
States
included
in
this
reporting
system
are
Arizona,
California,
Florida,
Louisiana,
Michigan,
New
York,
Oregon,
Texas,
and
Washington.
Reporting
is
very
uneven
from
state
to
state
because
of
the
varying
cooperation
from
different
sources
of
reporting
(
e.
g.,
workers
compensation,
Poison
Control
Centers,
emergency
departments
and
hospitals,
enforcement
investigations,
private
physicians,
etc.).
Therefore,
these
reports
should
not
be
characterized
as
estimating
the
total
magnitude
of
poisoning.
The
focus
is
on
occupationallyrelated
cases
not
residential
or
other
non­
occupational
exposures.
However,
the
information
collected
on
each
case
is
standardized
and
categorized
according
the
certainty
of
the
information
collected
and
the
severity
of
the
case.

IMAZAQUIN
REVIEW
I.
Incident
Data
System
Incident#
7203­
1
A
pesticide
incident
occurred
in
1998,
when
a
man
accidentally
got
the
product
on
his
back
and
legs.
He
reported
skin
irritation.
No
further
information
on
the
disposition
of
the
case
was
reported.

Incident#
7205­
1
A
pesticide
incident
occurred
in
1998,
when
a
three
child
played
in
an
area
that
was
treated
with
the
product
the
previous
week.
The
child
reported
a
rash.
No
further
information
on
the
disposition
of
the
case
was
reported.

Three
minor
cases
involving
skin
reactions
and
a
legal
suit
that
did
not
provide
specific
information
on
the
symptoms
or
exposure
were
not
included
in
the
summary
above.
Note
that
including
the
three
minor
cases,
there
were
a
total
of
five
cases
involving
skin
irritation
or
rash.
3
II.
Poison
Control
Center
Data
­
1993
through
2003
There
were
58
reports
of
exposure
to
imazaquin
from
1993
through
2003.
However,
just
25
of
these
reports
received
follow­
up
to
determine
medical
outcome
and
just
10
of
the
25
had
symptoms
related
to
their
exposure.
The
primary
symptoms
reported
were
dermally­
related,
primarily
irritation,
itching
and
rash.

III.
California
Data
­
1982
through
2003
No
reports
of
imazaquin
poisoning
were
reported
in
California
from
1982
through
2003.

IV.
National
Pesticide
Information
Center
On
the
list
of
the
top
200
chemicals
for
which
NPIC
received
calls
from
1984­
1991
inclusively,
imazaquin
was
not
reported
to
be
involved
in
human
incidents.

V.
NIOSH
SENSOR
Out
of
5,899
reported
cases
from
1998­
2003,
none
involved
imazaquin.

VI.
Scientific
Literature
No
scientific
literature
was
found
concerning
human
poisoning
or
other
adverse
effects
from
exposure
to
imazaquin.

VII.
Conclusion
Both
the
Incident
Data
System
and
the
Poison
Control
Center
had
a
few
cases
reported
with
dermal
symptoms
due
to
exposure
to
imazaquin.
Other
sources
of
data
did
not
reveal
any
incidents
due
to
imazaquin.

VIII.
Recommendations
A
warning
to
avoid
getting
on
skin
or
use
of
skin
protection
(
e.
g.,
long
sleeve
shirt
and
pants,
and
gloves)
should
be
considered
for
users
of
imazaquin.

cc:
Imazaquin
file
(
128840,
128848,
129023)
4
Craig
Doty
(
7508C)
