EPA releases guidance on first aid statements for pesticide labels

Washington — In response to stakeholder comments and questions, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued final guidance on the placement of first aid statements on pesticide labels.

According to an EPA spokesperson, first aid statements on Toxicity Category I pesticides must be visible on the front panel, unless a variation has been approved. First aid statements on Toxicity Category II and III products can be placed on any panel of the label – front, back, side or inside.

In addition, pesticide registrants should:

• Consider placing duplicative first aid language on the back page of any booklet, accordion or saddle-stitch label attached to the pesticide container in case those labels are unintentionally detached. This recommendation is not intended to suggest that other information typically included on the back page should be moved elsewhere, EPA notes.
• Consider designing new booklet/accordion/saddle-stitch labels that are not easily removed from containers. Per 40 CFR part 156.10(a)(4), labels are to be securely attached to the immediate container of the pesticide product. However, the agency believes that in many instances these labels are easily removed, which is why many registrants already have chosen to put duplicative first aid statements on the last page of the label that is attached to the container.