Pest Management Professional, February 2013

USDA FS Termiticide Report for 2012 Thomas Shelton Terry Wagner and Donald Fye Contributors F ederal termiticide registration is based in part on field test efficacy data reported to the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA These field tests evaluate termiticides for five years before consideration by EPA The tests are conducted at four national field sites throughout the U S by the Insects Diseases and Invasive Plants research work unit of the U S Department of Agriculture Forest Service USDA FS The USDA FS has evaluated termiticides for over 75 years as part of its ongoing Termiticide Testing Program In 2012 the USDA FS managed and administered six agreements with product manufacturers Figure 1 illustrates the number of products installed at the Forest Service test sites since 1985 Product installations have declined markedly in recent years with only a single new product installed in 2012 As discussed in the 2011 termiticide report PMP February 2012 this decline in new products moving into the registration process could result in reduced customer choice in the future Only four field agreements were carried into 2012 representing three candidate products One new product was installed during 2012 Test Methods The EPA Product Performance Test Guideline OPPTS 8103600 specifies the ground board and concrete slab field tests for evaluating the efficacy of soil applied termiticides Each test is replicated 10 times at all test concentrations at each of four sites located in Ariz Fla Miss and S C The ground board test consists of a pine board centered in a 17 by 17 inch plot of exposed treated soil with a 6 by 6 inch pine board centered on the plot The concrete slab test consists of a 17 by 17 inch plot of treated soil covered by a 21 by 21 inch concrete slab A 4 inch pipe extends through the center of the slab and through an underlying polyethylene vapor barrier The covered pipe contains a pine test block placed on the treated soil In both tests termiticides are applied to the soil at an equivalent pre construction volume of one gallon per 10 square feet Data are collected annually on the amount of damage to the wooden blocks and the presence of termites in infested plots Damage data are collected using the Gulfport scale where 0 no damage 1 nibbles to surface etching 2 light damage with penetration 3 moderate damage 4 heavy damage and 5 block failure Performance Standards Two standards are used in evaluating termiticide efficacy the EPAs Test Guideline OPPTS 8103600 and the Florida Termiticide Efficacy Rule 5E 20311 FAC The EPAs federal guideline is used to determine preand post construction use directions for termiticides and the Florida Efficacy Rule applies to preventative treatments for new construction To be successful for registration according to the federal guideline termiticides must prevent termites from penetrating treated soil in all test plots i e 100 control for a period of at least five years using the concrete slab ground board or stake tests The greatest weight is placed on data obtained using the concrete slab protocol The Florida Rule considers success of a candidate termiticide differently from the federal guideline For the Florida Rule termiticides must prevent damage greater than ASTM 9 equivalent to Gulfport 1 to wooden test blocks in 90 of all plots for five years in one or more of the southeastern test sites with a minimum of 10 concrete slab plots Every year all test 36 February 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net