In a sustainable agriculture community, pheromone-based
products have been used as low-risk alternatives to conventional
pesticides. A pesticide is defined as any substance or
mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying,
repelling, or mitigating any pest according to federal and state
law. A pheromone used for mating disruption is classified as
a pesticide because it prevents the pest from being able to mate,
thus reducing or eliminating its propagation. The products may
be applied either by ground or by air, depending on the size
and geographic extent of the infestation. Pheromone
dispensers used to manage coddling moth worldwide have
been registered since 1991 in the United States.
For insects, pheromone functions include identifying the
location of food sources, alarming other individuals about
potential dangers, and locating potential mates. When used in
pest management, most of the SCLPs included in this discussion
are formulated into pesticide end products used as
attractants for mating disruption for the targeted Lepidopteran
species.
The sex pheromone of the currant shoot borer Lampronia capitella.
ChEBI: 9Z,11E-Tetradecadienyl acetate is a carboxylic ester.
Naturally occurring pheromones are ubiquitous in the environment
and not considered to be air pollutants. Pesticide
products containing synthetic pheromones are used in a wide
variety of places where plants grow, such as agricultural and
residential sites and forests. There are general guidance and
determinations provided by US EPA regarding environmental
fate and behavior. However, the actual environmental behavior
of a particular pheromone depends on specific climate condition
and usage, which can vary by product design, site characteristics,
and application method.
Historically, the US EPA has supported requests for waivers
from the requirements of studies/data for acute mammalian
toxicity and for non target organism testing for pheromones
used in pesticide products. These data were waived based on
the following criteria: (1) low toxicity in animal testing; (2)
expected low exposure to humans; (3) no expected risk to
human health; (4) no reported adverse effects during more
than 10 years of use as pesticides; and (5) no expected adverse
effects to non target organisms. SCLPs are considered sufficiently
similar as a group and toxicological data of one member
can be applied to others in the same group.
