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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A U.S. ban on the use of carbofuran in food won't affect production of the pesticide at the Institute chemical plant because most of the product is shipped overseas, officials said Tuesday.

FMC Corp. owns the portion of the Institute plant that makes carbofuran's active ingredient. But the unit is operated by Bayer CropScience, and carbofuran is one of four end products the Institute plant makes with its huge stockpile of the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate, or MIC.

On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it was revoking approval for the use of carbofuran to protect the public, especially children, from health risks associated with eating contaminated food and drinking polluted water.

The move prohibits any tiny amounts of carbofuran on U.S. foods, including all imports, and will eventually lead to a formal ban. Previously, EPA allowed certain tiny amounts through carbofuran residue limits, also known under the law as "tolerances."

James Fitzwater, a spokesman for FMC, said that a "high percentage" of the carbofuran made by his company is exported, mostly for use rice and cotton in Latin America and Asia.

 "It's going to have no impact on the manufacture of this product," Fitzwater said of the EPA regulatory action. "We have a very small market in the United States."

At the Institute plant, Bayer workers make furadan, the active ingredient in carbofuran. Furadan is then shipped to one of two FMC facilities -- one outside Buffalo, N.Y., and one near Peoria, Ill. -- where it is converted to either the liquid or granular form of carbofuran.

Furadan is made in part with MIC taken from the "day tank" located near the site of the August 2008 explosion that killed two Bayer workers. Federal investigators are looking into whether the tank is safely located and examining if Bayer should reduce or eliminate its more than 200,000-pound stockpile of MIC, the deadly chemical that killed thousands of people when it leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

Carbofuran is among the more toxic carbamate pesticides. Manufacturers agreed in 1994 to phase out most uses of the granular form because it was killing millions of wild birds, including golden and bald eagles, red-tailed hawks and migratory songbirds.

Read more about Bayer CropScience

Read more in Sustained Outrage

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A U.S. ban on the use of carbofuran in food won't affect production of the pesticide at the Institute chemical plant because most of the product is shipped overseas, officials said Tuesday.

FMC Corp. owns the portion of the Institute plant that makes carbofuran's active ingredient. But the unit is operated by Bayer CropScience, and carbofuran is one of four end products the Institute plant makes with its huge stockpile of the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate, or MIC.

On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it was revoking approval for the use of carbofuran to protect the public, especially children, from health risks associated with eating contaminated food and drinking polluted water.

The move prohibits any tiny amounts of carbofuran on U.S. foods, including all imports, and will eventually lead to a formal ban. Previously, EPA allowed certain tiny amounts through carbofuran residue limits, also known under the law as "tolerances."

James Fitzwater, a spokesman for FMC, said that a "high percentage" of the carbofuran made by his company is exported, mostly for use rice and cotton in Latin America and Asia.

 "It's going to have no impact on the manufacture of this product," Fitzwater said of the EPA regulatory action. "We have a very small market in the United States."

At the Institute plant, Bayer workers make furadan, the active ingredient in carbofuran. Furadan is then shipped to one of two FMC facilities -- one outside Buffalo, N.Y., and one near Peoria, Ill. -- where it is converted to either the liquid or granular form of carbofuran.

Furadan is made in part with MIC taken from the "day tank" located near the site of the August 2008 explosion that killed two Bayer workers. Federal investigators are looking into whether the tank is safely located and examining if Bayer should reduce or eliminate its more than 200,000-pound stockpile of MIC, the deadly chemical that killed thousands of people when it leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

Carbofuran is among the more toxic carbamate pesticides. Manufacturers agreed in 1994 to phase out most uses of the granular form because it was killing millions of wild birds, including golden and bald eagles, red-tailed hawks and migratory songbirds.

The American Bird Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned EPA to further restrict its use, citing threats to humans as well as animals. EPA has been working to eliminate most other uses of carbofuran since at least August 2006.

Already, carbofuran was being used on a small number of crops on a very few American farms. According to EPA, about 1 million pounds are used every year, affecting less than 1 percent of the nation's farmed acres. Domestically, it has in recent years been used almost exclusively on corn, alfalfa and potatoes, according to EPA.

Carbofuran is used much more widely in the developing world, on rice, bananas, coffee and sugar cane. Initially, EPA had announced its ban would not affect foods imported into the United States, but that changed when the ban was formally proposed in July 2008.

FMC had proposed earlier this year to cut back on its U.S. use of carbofuran to a smaller number of crops. But EPA officials concluded the chemical still poses "an unacceptable dietary risk, especially to children, from consuming a combination of food and water with carbofuran residues."

EPA said that "adequate alternatives exist for all crops" except artichokes, chili peppers in the Southwestern U.S., cucurbits, spinach grown for seed, sunflowers and pine seedlings in the Southeastern U.S.

And, EPA estimated that carbofuran exposure created a risk in exposed children more than twice what the agency considered acceptable for pesticides in food.

EPA has found carbofuran to potentially cause headaches, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, chest pains, blurred vision, anxiety and general muscular weakness. Long-term effects can include damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, EPA said.

FMC has said it plans to challenge the EPA regulatory action and "prove carbofuran's safety to the satisfaction of all."

George Fenwick, president of the American Bird Conservancy, praised the EPA action.

"Carbofuran causes neurological damage in humans and is one of the most deadly pesticides to birds left on the market," Fenwick said. "This EPA decision marks a huge victory for wildlife and the environment."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.