toxicological profile for malathion - Agency for Toxic Substances and ...

MALATHION 212
6. POTENTIAL FOR HUMAN EXPOSURE
Exposure Registries. No exposure registries for malathion were located. This chemical is not
currently one of the compounds for which a subregistry has been established in the National Exposure
Registry. The substance will be considered in the future when chemical selection is made for
subregistries to be established. The information that is amassed in the National Exposure Registry
facilitates the epidemiological research needed to assess adverse health outcomes that may be related to
exposure to malathion.
6.8.2 Ongoing Studies
Information on ongoing studies related to the physical and chemical properties; the production, use,
release, and disposal; the environmental fate and exposure; and the bioavailability of malathion was
scarce. The Federal Research in Progress (FEDRIP 2002) database provides additional information
obtainable from a few ongoing studies that may fill in some of the data needs identified in Section 6.8.1.
With the exception of one study being funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), all of the studies
identified in the FEDRIP database are being funded by the USDA. The majority of the studies identified
in the database abstracts that mentioned malathion tend to be for research that deals with identifying
alternative compounds, including chemically based alternatives and biopesticides, that are of lower risk or
safer to use compared with malathion. Other studies focus on finding improved methods of application,
which would lead to the safer, more accurate, and more timely application of pesticides, including
malathion. Related studies focused on studying aspects of the boll weevil, a target pest for which
malathion is used in USDA eradication programs, in order to find more environmentally sound and more
cost effective ways (including decreased usage of pesticides) of achieving the goal of boll weevil
eradication. The use of ultra-low volume (ULV) applications for control of boll weevils or mosquitoes
are mentioned in several of the research abstracts, as is the implementation of integrated pest management
(IPM) programs. Some of the studies focus on the use of safer and more efficacious biological and
chemical compounds to be used for the control of riceland mosquito populations that have exhibited a
high tolerance to malathion.
A literature search in an additional database identified a few studies related to the use, disposal, exposure,
and environmental fate of malathion.
Researchers at Mississippi State are conducting a study funded by Agricultural Research Service
(ARS)/USDA to identify methods to improve the efficiency of the production of channel catfish in
aquaculture. Because malathion use (as ULV applications) for boll weevil eradication in the local study