Page
1
of
6
UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
April
18,
2006
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Incident
Reports
Associated
with
2­(
Thiocyanomethylthio)
benzothiazole
(
TCMTB)

TO:
Kathryn
Avivah
Jakob,
Chemical
Review
Manager
Mark
Hartman,
Branch
Chief
Regulatory
Management
Branch
II
Antimicrobials
Division
(
7510C)

FROM:
Jonathan
Chen,
Risk
Assessment
and
Science
Support
Branch
Antimicrobials
Division
(
7510C)

THRU:
Norm
Cook,
Branch
Chief
Risk
Assessment
and
Science
Support
Branch
Antimicrobials
Division
(
7510C)

PC
Code:
035603
Decision
Number:
361478
Data
Package
Number:
(
328526)
Page
2
of
6
1.0
INTRODUCTION
The
chemical
2­(
Thiocyanomethylthio)
benzothiazole
(
TCMTB)
was
first
registered
with
the
EPA
on
January
21,
1980.
As
an
antimicrobial
pesticide,
TCMTB
is
used
largely
as
a
wood
preservative.
It
is
also
used
as
a
microbiocide/
microbiostat
and
bacteriocide/
bacteriostat
in
industrial
processes
and
water
systems,
as
well
as
in
industrial
materials
as
a
preservative.
As
an
agricultural
pesticide
TCMTB
is
used
for
seed
treatment
of
crops,
bulbs,
and
corn
as
well
as
treatment
of
flowers
and
seed
and
soil
treatment
of
trees.
The
purpose
of
this
chapter
is
to
review
the
evidence
of
health
effects
in
humans
resulting
from
exposure
to
TCMTB.

Two
approaches
are
used
in
this
section:

1.
The
potential
health
effects
of
TCMTB
in
humans,
reported
as
incident
reports
from
different
sources,
are
summarized.

2.
A
literature
search
of
chronic
health
effects
associated
with
TCMTB
exposure,
including
results
of
epidemiological
studies,
is
summarized.

2.0
INCIDENT
REPORT
DATA
ASSOCIATED
WITH
HEALTH
EFFECTS
The
following
databases
have
been
consulted
for
the
poisoning
incident
data:

OPP
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)
­
The
Incident
Data
System
of
The
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs
(
OPP)
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
contains
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.

Poison
Control
Centers
­
as
the
result
of
a
data
purchase
by
EPA,
OPP
received
Poison
Control
Center
data
covering
the
years
1993
through
2003
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.
Page
3
of
6
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.

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.

Published
Incident
Reports
­
Some
incident
reports
associated
with
TCMTB
related
human
health
hazards
are
published
in
the
scientific
literature.

2.1
OPP
=

s
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)

There
are
21
incidences
that
have
been
reported
in
the
OPP
incident
data
system
that
are
associated
with
TCMTB
exposure.

The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
dermal
exposure
were
skin
irritation/
burning,
rash,
itching,
skin
discoloration/
redness,
and
blistering.

The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
inhalation
exposure
were
respiratory
irritation/
burning,
irritation
to
mouth/
throat/
nose,
coughing/
choking,
shortness
of
breath,
and
sore
throat.

There
were
three
incidences
that
involved
ingestion
exposure
to
TCMTB,
and
the
reported
symptoms
included
irritation
to
mouth/
throat/
nose,
abdominal
pain,
kidney
failure,
hypothermia
and
loss
of
consciousness.

2.2
Poison
Control
Center
(
1993
 
2003)

There
is
no
reported
TCMTB
specific
incident
in
the
PCC's
database.
Page
4
of
6
2.3
California
Data
­
1982
through
2003
There
are
4
incidences
that
have
been
reported
in
the
California
Pesticide
Surveillance
Program
Database
(
1982­
2003)
as
possibly
or
probably
TCMTB
related
(
Mehler,
2005).
The
descriptions
of
the
four
incidences
are
listed
below.
.

Case
1982­
1631
concerns
a
man
who
filled
new
bags
with
treated
seed,
sewed
the
bags
shut,
and
stacked
them.
The
day
was
very
hot
(
temperature
higher
than
100
degrees),
and
he
worked
without
a
shirt.
Two
of
the
four
workers
doing
this
task
developed
rashes
for
which
they
sought
medical
advice.
This
worker's
condition
was
described
as
"
Rash,
difficulty
breathing,
redness
of
arms,
face,
shoulders,
feet,
and
his
hair
also
turned
purple."
The
worker
developed
"
peeling
and
redness
of
both
forearms"
and
a
"
mild
bronchitis",
and
he
was
off
work
for
a
week.

Cases
1985­
231
and
233
both
occurred
at
a
lumber
planning
mill,
which
had
recently
and
inadequately
installed
equipment
to
treat
their
products
with
fungicide
to
reduce
sapstain.
The
installation
allowed
back
flow
into
the
potable
water
supply,
but
no
workers
drank
it
because
excessive
iron
levels
had
long
made
the
water
unpalatable.
They
drank
bottled
water.
We
do
not
know
how
they
were
exposed.
A
total
of
103
employees
were
evaluated
for
the
exposure,
most
of
them
asymptomatic
so
far
as
we
know.
The
subject
of
case
1985­
231
noticed
blood
in
his
urine
(
not
present
at
time
of
examination).
The
subject
of
case
1985­
233
developed
a
rash
on
her
chest
and
back.

Case
1989­
2417
concerns
a
loader
for
an
aerial
applicator
who
had
loaded
nothing
but
treated
wheat
seed.
He
had
no
problems
during
his
first
nine
days
on
the
job,
but
on
the
tenth
day
he
cleaned
the
aircraft
with
a
solvent
and
developed
an
itchy
rash
on
his
hands
and
forearms.
The
investigation
points
out
that
the
solvent
seems
the
more
likely
cause,
but
we
could
not
rule
out
a
contribution
from
the
seed
treatment.

2.4
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)

There
is
no
incident
reported
in
the
NPTN
database
related
to
TCMTB
exposure.

2.5
Incident
Reports
/
Epidemiological
Studies
Published
in
Scientific
Literature.

A
cross­
sectional
study
was
conducted
to
study
the
health
effects
associated
with
the
use
of
TCMTB
in
the
British
Columbia
sawmill
industry
(
Teschke,
1992).
Workers
in
five
costal
sawmills
were
asked
to
complete
a
self­
administered
questionnaire
about
symptoms
considered
potentially
related
and
unrelated
to
fungicide
exposure,
and
about
injuries
commonly
reported
in
sawmills.
The
reported
symptoms
consistently
found
to
be
related
to
TCMTB
mills
included
dry
skin
around
the
eyes,
blood­
stained
mucus
from
the
nose,
nose
bleed,
peeling
skin,
burning
or
itching
skin,
and
skin
redness
or
rash.
Page
5
of
6
3.0
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
DATA
ASSOCIATED
WITH
CHRONIC
HEALTH
EFFECTS
There
is
no
epidemiological
data
that
can
be
located
associated
with
the
chronic
health
effects
of
TCMTB
exposure.

4.0
SUMMARY
AND
CONCLUSION
There
are
incidences
that
have
been
reported
associated
with
exposure
to
end­
use
products
containing
TCMTB.
Dermal
and
inhalation
are
the
primary
routes
of
exposure.
Most
of
the
incidences
are
related
to
irritation
type
reactions.

The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
dermal
exposure
were
skin
irritation/
burning,
rash,
itching,
skin
discoloration/
redness
and
blistering.

The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
ocular
exposure
were
eye
irritation/
burning.
Eye
pain
and
swelling
of
the
eyes
has
also
been
reported
in
some
instances.

The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
inhalation
exposure
were
respiratory
irritation/
burning,
irritation
to
mouth/
throat/
nose,
coughing/
choking,
shortness
of
breath,
and
sore
throat.

Although
oral
exposure
is
considered
to
be
a
minor
route
of
exposure
for
TCMTB
use,
irritation
to
mouth/
throat/
nose,
abdominal
pain,
kidney
failure,
hypothermia
and
loss
of
consciousness
were
reported
in
cases
of
ingestion.
Page
6
of
6
5.0
REFERENCE
Mehler,
L.
2003.
Personal
Communication.
California
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulation.

Teschke,
K.;
Hertzman,
C.;
Wlena,
M.;
Dimich­
Ward,
H.;
Hershier,
R.;
Ostry,
A.;
and
Kelly,
S.
J.
1992.
Recognizing
Acute
Health
Effects
of
Substitute
Fungicides:
Are
First­
Aid
Reports
Effective?
American
Journal
of
Industrial
Medicine
21:
375­
382.
