	

	UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

	WASHINGTON, D.C.  20460

OFFICE OF PREVENTION, PESTICIDES AND TOXIC SUBSTANCES

	

August 30, 2007

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT:	Review of Quinclorac Incident Reports

		DP Barcode D343370, Chemical # 128974

FROM:	Monica Hawkins, M.P.H., Environmental Health Scientist

		Chemistry and Exposure Branch

		Health Effects Division (7509P)

		Hans Allender, Ph.D., Statistician

		Chemistry and Exposure Branch

		Health Effects Division (7509P)

THRU:	David J. Miller, Chief

		Chemistry and Exposure Branch 

		Health Effects Division (7509P)

TO:		Sherrie Kinard, Chemical Review Manager

		Special Review and Reregistration Division (7508P)

BACKGROUND

			

Quinclorac is registered for use as an herbicide to control broadleaf
weeds in agricultural production of grain products (rice, sorghum) and
is also registered for use to treat residential lawns by certified
applicators only.  To generate this review, the Office of Pesticides
(OPP) consulted the following databases for the poisoning incidents on
the active ingredient quinclorac. The purpose of the database searches
is to identify potential patterns of the extent and severity of the
health effects attributed to quinclorac exposure. 

1)  Poison Control Centers – OPP purchases American Association of
Poison Control Center (AAPCC) data covering the years 1993 through 2005
for all reported pesticides incidents. The last acquisition of data
covering 2004 and 2005 took place in late 2006. Most of the national
Poison Control Centers (PCCs) participate in a national data collection
system called the National Poison Center System (NPCS), previously
called The Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS). PCC reports
includes 61 centers at hospital and universities that provide coverage
to 100% of the United States population. Datasets incorporate an
extensive quality assurance process including a standardized
computer-based data collection system. Some PCCs cover multiple States;
others cover a metropolitan area, or an entire State. PCCs provide
emergency health care information through telephone consultation for
individual consumers and health care providers concerning suspected
poisonings involving drugs, household products and, pesticides.  Data
collection to aid pesticide regulatory programs is secondary to this
service. An elaborate, computer assisted protocol is followed to
generate exposure reports.  Specially trained medical staff record
suspected pesticide poisoning exposures as confirmed, possible,
probable, or definite.  Approximately 50% of database reports include
medical follow-up, in those cases clinical outcomes are determined,
i.e., cases resolved by phone consultation with PCC specialist. 
Specialists may record that patients are seen in health care facility,
patients hospitalized, or patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit
(ICU). PCCs receive calls 24 hours a day, 7-days a week throughout the
entire year, and they handle non-occupational and occupational calls.
Discussions are underway to improve collection of OPP-specific
occupational data. Because mainly consumers initiate PCC calls, this
database is not currently a complete source of occupational poisoning
incidents.

2)  OPP Incident Data System (IDS) This database includes reports of
incidents from various sources, including mandatory Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 6 (a) (2) reports from
registrants, other federal and state health and environmental agencies
and individual consumers.  The IDS has been in existence since 1992. 
Reports submitted to the Incident Data System represent anecdotal
reports or allegations only, unless otherwise stated in this report. 
Typically, OPP does not draw conclusions implicating the pesticide as a
cause of any of the reported health effects.  Nevertheless, sometimes
with enough cases and/or documentation, patterns and risk mitigation
measures may be suggested.

3) National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Sentinel Event
Notification System for Occupational Risks (NIOSH/SENSOR) performs
standardized surveillance in twelve states from 1998 through 2006. 
States included in this reporting system are Arizona, California,
Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, New
Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. A number of other States can and
do report, periodically and on request for special circumstances,
because they participate in the NIOSH/ SENSOR network as part of the
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE).  Reporting is
variable from state-to-state because of the dissimilar cooperation from
different sources of reporting (e.g., workers compensation, Poison
Control Centers, emergency departments and hospitals, enforcement
investigations, private physicians, etc.).  Therefore, OPP does not
characterize these reports as estimating the total magnitude of
poisoning for a State.  The focus of NIOSH/SENSOR database is on
occupationally related cases. However, the information collected on each
case is standardized and categorized according to the certainty of the
information collected and the severity of the case. Detailed exposure
circumstances may be available if the State provided follow-up case
reports, as in serious cases ending in death.

The purpose of this review is to summarize available pesticide poisoning
incident data for the active ingredient quinclorac. The report contains
three sections: 

1- Cases reported in the Poison Control Center Database from 1993 to
2005.

2 - Cases reported in the Incident Data System from 1999 to the present.

3 - Cases reported in the NIOSH system from 1998 to 2003.

1.	  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Poison Control Center Data – 1993-2005

This section discusses results from the national data collection system
called the National Poison Center System (NPCS), from the years 1993
through 2005 and reflects data stratified by population: occupational,
non-occupational, and children. The children class is five years of age
or less; this definition includes children about to become six years
old, or up to 72 months old. Cases involving exposures to multiple
products and cases with unrelated medical outcome are excluded.  Also
excluded are intentional exposures, i.e., suicide attempts. 

The search of NPCS shows only a total of five exposures to quinclorac in
the 13-year span of data collected. No exposure was found in the
children class. The occupational class had one non-symptomatic exposure,
and the non-occupational group had four exposures with three symptomatic
cases. A summary by year follows (there were no reported exposures prior
to 2003).

Year	Symptomatic	Moderate	Major	Cases Followed	Total Exposed	HCF
Hospital	ICU

2003	3	0	0	3	3	1	0	0

2004	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0

Total	3	0	0	4	5	1	0	0



No trend is apparent in the year by year summary. 

2. Cases reported in the Incident Data System from 1999 to the present

IDS reported two cases. For a detailed description, see attachment 1.

3. NIOSH SENSOR

Out of 5,899 reported cases from 1998 to 2003, there is no case reported
for quinclorac in the SENSOR/NIOSH database.

Recommendations

No mitigation actions are necessary for quinclorac at this time. 

Attachment 1.

Cases from the Incident Data System for Quinclorac

Incident#13088-6

	A pesticide incident occurred in 2002, when a woman walked through a
cotton field and was exposed to spray drift.  The woman reported severe
heart problems and was treated at a hospital.  Several tests were
performed at the hospital that was inconclusive.  No further information
on the disposition of the case was reported.

Incident#15174-1

	A pesticide incident occurred in 2004, when an eighty year old woman,
who has a history of allergies and is prone to pneumonia, was at a golf
course that was treated with the product.  Six days later, she reported
a runny nose, bronchitis, and pneumonia.  Her husband and two of their
friends reported a runny nose and sneezing.  Two of the woman’s
friends reported allergies on the same day.  No further information on
the disposition of the case was reported.  

Cc:  Kennan Garvey, Special Review and Reregistration
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