Session 2 in the PACT Webinar Antimicrobial Series. Facilitated by the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators (AAPSE). 

Antimicrobials play an important role in public health and safety. While providing health benefits of pathogen removal and, in some cases, safety benefits of materials preservation, they also involve risks of potential efficacy failure and exposure hazards. It’s no wonder, then, that the effectiveness and proper use of these products are of widespread concern.

EPA regulates pesticides under the statutory authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The registration requirements for antimicrobial pesticides differ somewhat from those of other pesticides. For example:

• EPA requires special tests to ensure efficacy of public health pesticides when the pests are invisible disease-causing microbes, rather than insects or rodents that may be harboring disease organisms.
• Determining human and ecological risks from exposure to antimicrobial pesticides requires different types of measurements and models than those needed for pesticides largely applied to crops and other plants. **

(**The above information was taken directly from the EPA Antimicrobials Division web site)

COVID 19 has brought many new challenges to the efforts of this process and questions as a result.  During this webinar, two EPA representatives from the Office of Pesticide Program’s Antimicrobial Division will discuss the registration process and labels for antimicrobial products, especially disinfectants; John Hebert, Branch Chief and Eric Miederhoff, Team Leader. 

Participants are asked to submit any questions they may have in advance to Faye Golden (faye.golden@cookspest.com) by July 14, 2020.

SESSION MODERATOR: 
Kerry Richards, AAPSE Immediate Past-President

SPEAKERS:

John Hebert, Branch Chief, Regulatory Management Branch I, Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, USEPA

Eric Miederhoff, Team Leader, Regulatory Management Branch I, Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, USEPA

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE

This webinar is free of charge and open to all extension educators, regulators, agencies and centers, clinicians, industry, commodity groups and other organizations interested in the topic. The webinar will be recorded and posted on https://npsec.us/pact2020-webinars along with all Q&A and other resource materials.

The 2020 Pesticide Applicator Certification and Training (PACT) biennial meeting funded through a Cooperative Agreement between Michigan State University (MSU) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.

The PACT Planning Committee did a great job developing a comprehensive and engaging agenda with several topics that are extremely relevant to COVID-19. As a result, the MSU – EPA Cooperative Agreement will be delivering a series of webinars based on PACT topics over this next year. This provides a unique opportunity for extension educators and other stakeholders to gain knowledge and benefit from the robust agenda developed by the Planning Committee.

The goal of the PACT is to improve implementation of Certification of Pesticide Applicators Rule (40CFR171) and the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard Revision (40 CFR170) by state and tribal pesticide programs. This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement X8-83927401 to Michigan State University. Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) and the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC) are sub-awardees on the grant.