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EPA Orders Votran to Stop the Application of an Antimicrobial Pesticide to Fog Its Vehicles

Release Date: 03/13/2012
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

ATLANTA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) to the Volusia County Public Transportation System (Votran), located in South Daytona, Fla. for alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Votran is a service of the Volusia County government that provides transportation to all urban areas of the county with a fleet of buses, trolleys, and paratransit vehicles.

Based on a January 31, 2012 inspection of Votran’s offices, the EPA determined that Votran had been applying Sporicidin, an antimicrobial pesticide currently registered with the EPA, to the interior of its vehicles through a fogging machine. The SSURO orders Votran to stop any further fogging of its vehicles with Sporicidin if the intended use is to disinfect the interior of vehicles via fogging.

While Sporicidin is a registered EPA approved pesticide, its label authorizes users to apply it to pre-cleaned, hard, non-porous surfaces as a cleaner, disinfectant, and deodorizer by thoroughly wetting the surface, but does not authorize its use for fogging the interior of vehicles. Therefore, applying the disinfectant through fogging to disinfect the interior of Votran’s vehicles is not an acceptable and approved use of this product, and any such application is considered a violation of FIFRA.