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EPA orders pest control company to stop selling illegal pesticide

Release Date: 12/8/2003
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, (415) 947-4248

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with assistance from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, last week ordered the owner of the Diamond Company of Grover Beach, Calif. to immediately stop selling an unregistered pesticide product.

The company owner sold and distributed from its Web site a product called, "Siamon's Mold Control," which was never registered with the EPA. The company made several public health claims that its product eliminated or inactivated mold, bacteria, fungus and viruses. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the EPA requires products that make these claims to be registered with the agency and provide data proving their effectiveness.

"Without EPA registration, we have no information on the ingredients and possible effects of this product, which could result in harm to public health and the environment," said Enrique Manzanilla, director of the EPA's Cross Media Division for the Pacific Southwest region. "It is the company's responsibility to register its pesticides with the EPA."

If the Diamond Company fails to comply with the EPA order issued on Dec. 4, it will face criminal action or civil fines.

The EPA will not register a pesticide until tests show that it will not pose an unreasonable risk when used according to the directions. The agency also ensures that pesticide labels provide consumers with the information they need to use the products safely. Pesticides that have been registered with the agency will have an EPA registration number on the label.

The EPA's action was based on an investigation of Web sites that sell or distribute illegal or unregistered pesticide products.

For more information, visit: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/7/ch6.html