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VIRAL PESTICIDES: PRESENT KNOWLEDGE AND POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS)
Citation:
Summers, M. AND C. Kawanishi. VIRAL PESTICIDES: PRESENT KNOWLEDGE AND POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/9-78/026 (NTIS PB291648), 1978.
Description:
Baculoviruses appear to be effective alternatives to chemical pest control. To date deleterious effects on other components of the ecosystem have not been demonstrated. However, safety testing recommended for registration utilize protocols developed for chemical pesticides. Safety testing should respond to improving technology. The concensus of the symposium participants was that (1) safety testing protocols be modified such that they are appropriate for biological agents, (2) the sensitive and refined tools of molecular biology such as restriction fragment analysis, nucleic acid hybridization techniques, radioimmunoassay, etc., offer improved levels of specificity for virus identification and/or detection of virus replication, (3) the question of persistence or expression of viral genome or parts of viral genome in non-target systems should be of primary concern, (4) EPA confirm the data most relevant to safety tests before a biologic agent is registered, and (5) detailed studies on replication, pathogenesis and genetics of these agents in their natural hosts and cell culture systems should be carried out. These general recommendations emphasize only certain major topics urgently in need of research to provide basic information necessary for more precise and rational assessment of possible health effects of biologic agents used as pesticides.