![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Inert (other)Pesticide Ingredients in Pesticide Products - Federal Register and Pesticide Registration Notices on Other (Inert) Pesticide Ingredients
The following Federal Register Notices describe the evolution of the regulatory approaches used by the Office of Pesticide Programs for Inert (other) Ingredients. The documents accurately state the policies in place at the time that the Federal Register Notice was signed.
PR Notice 97-6: "Use of Term "Inert" in the Label Ingredients Statement "
In September 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Pesticide
Regulation Notice 97-6 which encourages manufacturers, formulators,
producers, and registrants of pesticide products to voluntarily substitute
the term "other ingredients" as a heading for the "inert" ingredients in
the ingredient statement on the label of the pesticide product. EPA made
this change after learning the results of a consumer survey on the use of
household pesticides. Many comments from the public and the consumer
interviews prompted EPA to discontinue the use of the term "inert." Many
consumers are mislead by the term "inert ingredient", believing it to mean
"harmless." Since neither federal law nor the regulations define the term
"inert" on the basis of toxicity, hazard or risk to humans, non-target
species, or the environment, it should not be assumed that all inert
ingredients are non-toxic.
52 FR 13305: "Inert Ingredients in Pesticide Products Policy Statement" (04/22/87)
54 FR 48314: "Inert Ingredients in Pesticide Products; Policy Statement; Revision and Modification of Lists" (11/22/89)
55
FR 33763: "Disclosure of Names of Inert Ingredients
in Currently Registered Pesticide Products" (08/17/90) 
59
FR 49400: "Inert Ingredients in Pesticide Products;
List of Minimal Risk Inerts" (09/28/94)
60 FR 35396: "Inert Ingredients in Pesticide Products; Reclassification of Certain List 3 Inert Ingredients to List 4B" (07/07/95)