The Pyrethroid Working Group

The Pyrethroid Working Group is an alliance that was formed in 1990 between companies that were developing and selling pyrethroids for agricultural and urban uses in the USA.

Pyrethroids are a class of chemicals that tend to behave very similarly and therefore it was apparent that a more complete picture of certain environmental behaviors of the chemicals could be provided for US State and Federal regulators if the companies worked cooperatively to generate some of the regulatory studies required to ensure environmental safety.

Comprised of the leading manufacturers of pyrethroid insecticides, the Pyrethroid Working Group works closely with federal, state and local regulators to ensure its  products are used properly.

Pyrethroids were adopted extensively by food producers and public health organizations and were seen to be highly effective, leading to the increasing replacement of older, less environmentally friendly, classes of chemistry.  Given the resulting very high level of adoption of pyrethroids, the PWG has been conducting ongoing additional studies to address the increased interest from regulators and public-interest organizations.

In addition, PWG has been actively working with regulators and others to promote improvements in stewardship and steps to mitigate environmental and human exposure.  This work with regulators has been matched with outreach programs to growers, pest management professionals and consumers to provide the information need to ensure pyrethroid products are used safely and effectively.

The US EPA recognized that most pyrethroids exhibit very similar fate and effects behavior in the environment and therefore when it was time to review the pyrethroids to ensure they met current safety standards (starting around 2011) under the registration review process, they treated the chemicals as a class for many key aspects of their behavior. PWG worked to answer their questions in full and then agreed to adopt stricter labeling requirements that EPA imposed on the chemicals.

Membership of the PWG has changed over the past three decades; however, the following companies are the current members of the PWG: AMVAC Chemical / BASF Corporation / Bayer CropScience / FMC Corporation / Syngenta Crop Protection / Valent BioSciences Corporation.