This product registration is not for Seed Treatment with Clothianidin. It is now conditionally registered as a foliar spary.
If this product killed all the Bees (according to the Environmentalists) , would Health Canada allow registration as foliar spray?
There should be 10 times more Bee Deaths in the coming year in Canada if the Activists are right.
Or will they say its Cellular Phones Killing the Bees.
Registration Decision for Clothianidin
Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act and Regulations, has granted conditional registrations for the sale and use of Clothianidin Technical Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide, Arena 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide, containing the technical grade active ingredient clothianidin, to control a variety of insects on potato, grape, pome fruits, stone fruits and turf.
An evaluation of available scientific information found that, under the approved conditions of use, the product has value and does not present an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.
Although the risks and value have been found acceptable when all risk reduction measures are followed, the applicant must submit additional scientific information as a condition of registration.
This summary describes the key points of the evaluation, while the Science Evaluation of Evaluation Report ERC2011-01, Clutch 50 WDG, Arena 50 WDG and Clothianidin Insecticides provides detailed technical information on the human health, environmental and value assessments of Clothianidin Technical Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide, Arena 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide.
What Is Clothianidin?
Clothianidin is the active ingredient contained in Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide, Arena 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide. It is an agricultural insecticide that can be applied to the foliage of plants or in-furrow to control a variety of important insect pests in several crops and turf. Clothianidin is a member of the neonicotinoid group of insecticides.
Health Considerations
Can Approved Uses of Clothianidin Affect Human Health?
Clothianidin is unlikely to affect your health when used according to label directions.
Exposure to clothianidin may occur through the diet (food and water) or when handling and applying the product. When assessing health risks, two key factors are considered: the levels where no health effects occur and the levels to which people may be exposed. The dose levels used to assess risks are established to protect the most sensitive human population (for example, children and nursing mothers). Only uses for which the exposure is well below levels that cause no effects in animal testing are considered acceptable for registration.
Toxicology studies in laboratory animals describe potential health effects from varying levels of exposure to a chemical and identify the dose where no effects are observed. The health effects noted in animals occur at doses more than 100-times higher (and often much higher) than levels to which humans are normally exposed when clothianidin products are used according to label directions.
The technical grade active ingredient clothianidin was highly acutely toxic to mice when ingested. Consequently, the statement "Danger Poison" was required on the label for the technical grade active ingredient. Based on the acute toxicity data, no label requirements were necessary for the end-use products Clothianidin Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide and Arena 50 WDG Insecticide.
Clothianidin did not cause cancer in laboratory animals and is non-genotoxic. The first signs of toxicity in animals given daily doses of clothianidin over longer periods of time were decreased food consumption, body weights, and body weight gains. Target organs of toxicity included the liver, kidney and reproductive organs, as well as the gastrointestinal tract and immune system.
Clothianidin did not cause birth defects in laboratory animals. There was evidence in animals that the young are more sensitive to the effects of clothianidin than adults. Effects on the young were observed at doses lower than those that caused effects in parental animals. In addition, signs of neurotoxicity were also seen in young animals at dose levels lower than those given to parental animals. Because of these observations, extra protective factors were applied during the risk assessment to further reduce the allowable level of human exposure to clothianidin.
The risk assessment protects against these effects by ensuring that the level of human exposure is well below the lowest dose at which these effects occurred in animal tests.
Residues in Water and Food
Dietary risks from food and water are not of concern.
The aggregate refined chronic dietary intake estimates (food plus water) revealed that infants, the subpopulation which would ingest the most clothianidin relative to body weight, are expected to be exposed to less than 66% of the acceptable daily intake. Based on these estimates, the chronic dietary risk from exposure to clothianidin residues is not of concern for any of the population sub-groups.
A single dose of clothianidin is not likely to cause acute health effects in the general population (including infants and children). An aggregate (food and water) dietary exposure estimate of 31% of the acute reference dose is not considered to be a health concern for any of the population sub-groups.
The Food and Drugs Act prohibits the sale of adulterated food, that is, food containing a pesticide residue that exceeds the established maximum residue limit (MRL). Pesticide MRLs are established for Food and Drugs Act purposes through the evaluation of scientific data under the Pest Control Products Act. Food containing a pesticide residue that does not exceed the established MRL does not pose an unacceptable health risk.
Crop field trials conducted in North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) geographical representative regions using the end-use product containing clothianidin in/on grapes, pome fruits, and stone fruits were acceptable. The MRLs for this active ingredient can be found in the Science Evaluation section of ERC2011-01, Clutch 50 WDG, Arena 50 WDG and Clothianidin Insecticides.
Risks in Residential and Other Non-Occupational Environments
Exposure to the public in treated turfgrass areas, and treated orchard areas is considered acceptable when clothianidin-containing products are used according to label directions.
Exposure of the general population to residues of clothianidin could occur from entering treated residential and municipal turf areas. The postapplication exposure to adults, youths, and children were considered acceptable.
Exposure of the general population to residues of clothianidin from treated orchards could occur by participating in pick-your-own (U-pick) activities for apple, pear, peaches, nectarines, sweet or sour cherries, and plums. The exposures from such activities are considered acceptable for adults, youths, and children.
Occupational Risks from Handling Arena 50 WDG Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide
Occupational risks are not of concern when the end-use products are used according to the label directions, which include protective measures.
Farmers, custom applicators, or professional lawn care operators who mix, load or apply Arena 50 WDG Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide, or Clothianidin Insecticide, as well as field workers re-entering freshly treated turf (including sod farm, golf course, residential, municipal, and industrial sites), crop fields, orchards and vineyards, can come in direct dermal contact with clothianidin residues. Therefore, the label specifies that anyone mixing/loading and applying Arena 50 WDG Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide must wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, chemical-resistant gloves, socks and shoes; and, for aerial application, additional protective equipment of coverall, and goggles or faceshield. The label also requires that workers do not enter treated fields for 12 hours after application. Taking into consideration these label statements, the number of applications and the expectation of the exposure period for handlers and workers, the risk to these individuals is not a concern.
For bystanders, exposure is expected to be much less than that for workers and is not quantified. Therefore, health risks to bystanders are not of concern.
Environmental Considerations
What Happens When Clothianidin Is Introduced Into the Environment?
Clothianidin is largely stable in the environment and laboratory studies suggest it could leach to groundwater in certain types of soils. It will, however, not evaporate from soil or water. Field dissipation studies confirm clothianidin's persistence and show that a fraction of the applied active ingredient can remain in the top soil layers. Clothianidin is a systemic pesticide and can be up-taken from soil and transferred by plants into pollen and nectar.
Clothianidin is highly toxic to bees and mammals and moderately toxic to birds. In water, it is very highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates, but only slightly toxic to fish.
Because clothianidin is systemic, persistent and highly toxic to honey bees, the PMRA has requested additional data to fully assess the potential effects of chronic exposure of this pesticide, resulting from its potential movement into plant tissues and secretions such as pollen and nectar.
Value Considerations
What Is the Value of Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide, Arena 50 WDG Insecticide and Clothianidin Insecticide?
These end-use products control a variety of important insect pests on turfgrass, potatoes, grapes and pome and stone fruits.
Sufficient efficacy data were provided to support the three products for the control of a variety of insect pests in potato, pome fruit, stone fruit, grapes and turf. The efficacy data confirmed the lowest effective rate for major pests and the data supported the rates for additional pests. The data support multiple methods of application including in-furrow on potato, foliar on potato, pome fruit, stone fruit, grapes and turf, and aerial application on potatoes.
Measures to Minimize Risk
Labels of registered pesticide products include specific instructions for use. Directions include risk-reduction measures to protect human and environmental health. These directions must be followed by law.
The key risk-reduction measures being proposed on the labels of Arena 50 WDG Insecticide, Clutch 50 WDG Insecticide or Clothianidin Insecticide to address the potential risks identified in this assessment are as follows.
Key Risk-Reduction Measures
Human Health
Anyone mixing, loading and applying the end-use products must wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, chemical-resistant gloves, and socks and shoes. Aerial applicators must also wear coveralls and goggles or faceshield. No human flaggers are permitted. In addition, precautionary measures are required to protect against drift during application. A 12-hour restricted entry interval is required for all occupational post application tasks. There is no public access to treated areas until sprays have dried.
Environment
Hazard statements and precautionary measures are required to mitigate risk to aquatic organisms, wild mammals, bees and other beneficial insects. No-spray buffer zones are required to mitigate the risk to aquatic organisms. Precautionary measures are also required to mitigate concerns related to carryover, runoff and leaching.
What Additional Scientific Information Is Being Requested?
Although the risks and value have been found acceptable when all risk-reduction measures are followed, the applicant must submit additional scientific information as a condition of registration. More details are presented in the Science Evaluation of Evaluation Report ERC2011-01, Clutch 50 WDG, Arena 50 WDG and Clothianidin Insecticides or in the section 12 Notice associated with these conditional registrations. The applicant must submit the following information by September 30, 2012.
Environment
•A lysimeter study conducted in coarse textured soil with a water dispersible granule (WDG) formulation.
•A study of behaviour and fate of clothianidin in plants, including determination of concentrations in nectar and pollen.
•A hive study designed to assess the chronic toxicity of clothianidin to bees.
Other Information
As these conditional registrations relate to a decision on which the public must be consulted, the PMRA will publish a consultation document when there is a proposed decision on applications to convert the conditional registrations to full registrations or on applications to renew the conditional registrations, whichever occurs first.
The test data cited in Evaluation Report ERC2011-01, Clutch 50 WDG, Arena 50 WDG and Clothianidin Insecticides (i.e. the test data relevant in supporting the registration decision) will be made available for public inspection when the decision is made to convert the conditional registrations to full registrations or to renew the conditional registrations (following public consultation). If more information is required, please contact the PMRA's Pest Management Information Service by phone (1-800-267-6315) or by e-mail (pmra.infoserv@hc sc.gc.ca).
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_decisions/erc2011-01/index-eng.php
