Sector Performance Report - Pesticide Formulators/ Manufacturers

The Ministry of the Environment’s Sector Compliance Branch (SCB) conducted inspections of 19 pesticide formulator/manufacturer facilities from August to October 2008.  The focus of these inspections was to assess compliance with Ontario’s environmental legislation, assess emergency preparedness and review the use of established best management practices (i.e., beyond compliance).

Pesticide manufacturers produce the active ingredients in pesticides from basic chemical feedstock including petrochemicals, inorganic acids, gases such as chlorine, and other chemicals.  The manufacturers produce the pesticide, but typically not in a form that is ready for use.  

Pesticide formulators primarily accept the active ingredients and mix, blend, or dilute them with inert ingredients to obtain a product that is ready for distribution.  These products may be sold directly for application or be used in manufacturing other products (e.g., pool chemicals).  Active ingredients are mixed with solvents, boosters and carriers to achieve the desired formulation.

Pesticide formulation products include, but are not limited to, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, rodenticides, repellents, and disinfectants. 

Inspections:

The inspections revealed that 7 facilities out of 19 (37%) were in compliance with all of the legislative requirements that were assessed, 11 facilities (58%) were in non-compliance with one or more administrative requirements which were unlikely to pose an environmental or human health risk, and 1 facility (5.3%) had potential environmental or human health concerns identified.  The predominant facility violations were related to administrative issues surrounding waste manifesting, waste storage reporting and lack of air approvals.  The main violation identified at the one facility that failed was the intermittent failure to comply with their air approval for their thermal oxidizer.  The facility that failed there inspection has addressed the issues identified in the report.

An assessment of beyond compliance activities indicated that at the time of the inspection there were no environmental issues due to improper pesticide storage/containment, emergency response procedures were being developed in the facilities and utilization of ministry guidelines (best management practices) was not standard practice among the facilities.

SCB continues to follow-up with companies to ensure corrective action has been taken and compliance has been achieved.  

• Sector Performance Report: Pesticide Formulators/Manufacturers