Global Pesticide Industry Drone Task Force Submits Drone Drift Study Data to EPA and Regulatory Agencies from Other Nations
The Unmanned Aerial Pesticide Application System Task Force (UAPASTF) is a global organization composed of pesticide manufacturing companies working together to gather data in support of the use of drones, or unmanned aerial spray systems (UASS), for making pesticide applications. UAPASTF was formed in 2021 to work with regulatory agencies and stakeholder groups from across the world to provide the necessary data to conduct risk assessments and regulate UASS. UAPASTF’s data gathering goals are to characterize UASS spray drift, evaluate occupational and bystander exposure, and characterize UASS crop residues.
The situation in the U.S. highlights the need for UAPASTF’s work – there has been a lack of data regarding drift potential and worker exposure for making pesticide applications with UASS. Despite not having UASS specific drift data for environmental and human health risk assessments used to register and re-register pesticides, EPA took a hands-off approach and allowed UASS to apply under the existing aerial application section on labels.
The data situation began to change at the end of the July when UAPASTF submitted the first-ever Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) data from spray drift field trials using UASS. The data was submitted to the following agencies:
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Health Canada’s Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA),
- Australia’s Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA)
- United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD)
Future work by UAPASTF will include more drift studies, developing UASS best management practices, and estimating occupational exposure from UASS applications. NAAA’s UASS Committee consists of a number of pesticide manufacturer representatives that also serve in the UAPASTF. It is the hope that UAPASTF will allow for UASS applications to be modeled properly for risk assessments. This will help ensure UASS applications are as well tested, modeled, safe and accurate as those from manned/crewed ag aircraft and that label language can provide spray system setup and operation guidelines and drift mitigations specific to UASS.