Seresto News: A Report from The Federal Oversight Agency Office of Inspector General
A report released February 29th 2024 brings into question the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standards. The report from the Federal Oversight Agency Office of the Inspector General evaluates whether the EPA has provided assurance that Seresto pet collars can be used without posing unreasonable adverse effects to pets and if the EPA adhered to pesticide registration requirements in approving Seresto pet collars. Key findings include:
Insufficient Assurance from EPA: The EPA has not provided adequate assurance that Seresto pet collars can be used without posing unreasonable adverse effects to pets. Despite adhering to initial toxicological data requirements, the EPA did not adhere to pesticide registration review processes for the active ingredients in Seresto collars and did not conduct or publish domestic animal risk assessments as committed.
Inadequate Incident Reporting System: The EPA's Pesticide Incident Reporting System does not capture adequate data needed to assess unreasonable adverse effects of pet products, including missing critical details in reports related to Seresto pet collar incidents.
Outdated Guidelines and Lack of Procedures: The EPA relies on outdated companion animal safety study guidelines and lacks standard operating procedures and measurable standards to determine when domestic animal pesticide products pose unreasonable adverse effects.
Agency’s Actions and Planned Corrective Measures: The report provides eight recommendations to improve EPA’s evaluation and regulation of pet products like Seresto collars. The EPA generally agreed with most recommendations, planning corrective actions, including developing standard operating procedures, updating safety guidelines, and enhancing the incident data system. However, the EPA did not agree with the recommendation to issue amended proposed interim registration review decisions for flumethrin and imidacloprid, considering previous actions and analyses sufficient.
The report concludes that significant improvements are needed in the EPA's processes and systems to ensure that pesticide products do not pose unreasonable adverse effects to pets.
Center for Biological Diversity Response
In response to the report, the Center for Biological Diversity issued a press release on February 29, 2024. In 2021, the Center had filed a formal legal petition urging the EPA to cancel the Seresto collar’s registration.
The press release highlights that the EPA has been under scrutiny following over 100,000 harm reports, including 3,000 pet deaths associated with Seresto collars. Despite these reports, of which were over 75,000 mentioned in the petition at the time, the EPA only limited the product's approval to five years and requested more detailed harm incident reporting from the collar's manufacturer, Elanco (Note: Seresto was developed by Bayer).
Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, criticized the EPA’s oversight as ‘abysmal’ and called for immediate action based on the report's recommendations. The press release also mentions a recent preliminary approval of a $15 million settlement from a class action lawsuit against Seresto's manufacturers and highlights past legislative scrutiny over the EPA's handling of the issue. Finally, it notes that despite promises, the EPA’s new public database on pesticide incidents lacks detailed and useful information.
