Pesticide triggers large-scale evacuation, decontamination effort

Abstract

On Nov. 25, two Mississippi men were arrested for alleged unlicensed commercial application of insecticide methyl parathion. Methyl parathion is a powerful restricted-use substance, approved only for outdoor agricultural use in fields. The men, Dock Eatman Sr. and Paul Walls Sr., are believed to have used methyl parathion for cockroach control inside at least 1,200 homes and businesses. Outdoors, methyl parathion volatilizes and breaks down quickly in ultraviolet light. Indoors, it persists for many months or years. This is the largest case of pestidde that has occurred to date in U.S., says Hagan Thompson, spokesman for Environmental Protection Agency's Region 4 office. The various government agencies involved in investigating pesticide misuse have set up what they call command centers in Pascagoula, Miss., to coordinate testing and decontamination efforts. The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR), EPA Region 4, Mississippi Department of Agriculture ...