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EPA Approves New Safer Pesticide for Packaged Products
Pennsylvania componet of the Northeastern IPM Center
Denise Kearns, Environmental Protection Agency, July 1998
The EPA registered a new active ingredient, methyl salicylate, for use in packaging materials to control insects that prey on stored food, animal feed and textiles. The new pesticide is a safer alternative to traditional insecticides and fumigants because it is applied inside the packaging materials and doesn't come into contact with the packaged product. Methyl salicylate has been widely used for many years as a flavoring in food. It will now assist in EPA's efforts to protect the environment by registering safer pesticides, since methyl salicylate will not contribute to the depletion of the ozone, which other pesticide are believed to contribute to. EPA registered the first two packaging products to contain methyl salicylate last month. Both products are marketed by the trade name RepelKote and are manufactured by Tenneco Packaging of Lake Forest, Illinois. These products were the first to undergo a new, streamlined registration process whereby the "inert" (or non-pesticidal) ingredients in the packaging did not require "tolerances" (residue limits set by EPA), since these ingredients were already approved by the FDA for food packaging.
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