NPMA Submits Comments to EPA on New Respirator Requirements When Using Borates

Last week, NPMA submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the proposed Boric Acid/Sodium Salts Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision. The primary purpose of the comments question the basis for EPA’s newly proposed respirator requirements for structural pest management professionals when applying borates to commercial and residential structures. The occupational handler inhalation exposure rates used by EPA are flawed based on inaccurate inhalation exposures modeled on EPA standard assumptions that far exceed actual structural use patterns.

Safety is of paramount importance in the structural pest management industry, and if more stringent respirators are needed we would fully embrace their use, but we want to ensure that safety precautions are justified, rational and based on sound science and accurate data. Data collected by NPMA members who participated in our borates survey this past month was used to refute the actual amount of borates being handled by applicators on a daily basis.

NPMA is urging EPA to conduct another analysis to justify the need for structural pest management professionals to wear PF5 and PF10 respirators when using borates and has offered to assist in data collection efforts and demonstrations of how borate products are actually used.