EPA is requesting public comment on the Agency's tolerance reassessment decision, known as a TRED, for ethephon, an organophosphonate (not an organophosphate) pesticide used as a plant growth regulator. The Agency has concluded that there is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from exposure to ethephon, and the 45 tolerances established for residues of ethephon in or on food commodities are now considered reassessed as safe under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) as amended by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).

Ethephon is used to promote fruit ripening and other plant responses in a number of food and feed crops, primarily tart cherries, grapes, processed tomatoes, and cotton. It is also used on home garden tomatoes, nonfood crops, commercial turf, and outdoor ornamental plants. ... In addition to these uses, the ethephon TRED also considers dietary risks associated with three uses that have tolerance petitions and registrations pending, including coffee in Hawaii, cottonseed and cotton gin byproducts, and filberts. Registration decisions on these pending uses will be made after an ecological risk assessment is completed.

Human studies have shown that humans may be more susceptible to the clinical toxicity of ethephon than experimental animals. For this reason, endpoints for the risk assessment are based on an oral human clinical toxicity study in which adult human subjects were intentionally exposed to ethephon. These studies were reviewed by the independent Human Studies Review Board in April 2006, and the Board concurred with the Agency's conclusions that they met both ethical and scientific standards.

EPA completed a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) for ethephon in April 1995 and is now requesting public comment on its tolerance reassessment decision for this pesticide. The Agency's June 28, 2006, Federal Register notice is available on our website at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. Comments must be received by the Agency by August 28, 2006. The ethephon TRED is available at http://www.regulations.gov in Docket number EPA-HQ-OPP-2004-0371, and on the ethephon web page at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm .