108 Turnbull Drive

T: 204-261-1770
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C: 204-996-0234

Winnipeg MB
R3V 1X2
www.eliasconsulting.ca
www.adjustingtlvs.com
jelias@mts.net

August 11, 2016

Ken Nawolsky
Superintendent of Insect Control
1155 Pacific Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3P 3P1
204-986-3794
knawolsky@winnipeg.ca

MALATHION Ultra-Low Volume (ULV)

Toxicity
Malathion is one of the earliest and least toxic organophosphate insecticides developed.
The adverse effect of concern for malathion (and for all organophosphates in general) is
inhibition of red blood cell (RBC) and/or brain acetylcholinesterase. Overt signs of
cholinergic toxicity have not been reported in any experimental human studies and only
at relatively high oral doses in animal studies.
ATSDR(1, 4) describes Malathion as
a pesticide that is used to kill insects on agricultural crops, on stored products, on golf
courses, in home gardens, and in outdoor sites where trees and shrubs are grown at
home; it is also used to kill mosquitoes and Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies) in large
outdoor areas. Additionally, malathion is used to kill fleas on pets and to treat head lice
on humans. It is usually sprayed on crops or sprayed from an airplane over wide land
areas, especially in the states of California and Florida. Malathion comes in two forms: a
pure form of a colorless liquid and a technical-grade solution (brownish-yellow liquid),
which contains malathion (greater than 90%) and impurities in a solvent. The technicalgrade malathion smells like garlic. Malathion is a manufactured chemical, so it is only
found in the environment as a result of its manufacture or use.

Also
Malathion interferes with the normal function of the nervous system. Because the
nervous system controls many other organs, malathion indirectly can affect many
additional organs and functions. Exposure to high amounts of malathion in the air,
water, or food may cause difficulty breathing, chest tightness, vomiting, cramps,
diarrhea, watery eyes, blurred vision, salivation, sweating, headaches, dizziness, loss of
consciousness, and death. If persons who are exposed accidentally or intentionally to
high amounts of malathion are rapidly given appropriate treatment, there may be no
long-term harmful effects. If people are exposed to levels of malathion below those that

affect the function of the nervous system, few or no health problems seem to occur.
This has been shown in studies with volunteers who inhaled or swallowed small known
amounts of malathion. There is no evidence that malathion affects the ability of humans
to reproduce. There is also no conclusive proof that malathion causes cancer in
humans, although some studies have found increased incidence of some cancers in
people who are regularly exposed to pesticides, such as farmers and pesticide
applicators. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined
that malathion is unclassifiable as to carcinogenicity to humans.

If significant amounts of impurities are present, or if there are mixed exposures with
other organophosphate insecticide (e.g., EPN), the toxicity of malathion increases
because of inhibition of the detoxification pathway for malaoxon, the active metabolite of
malathion. Isomalathion is the ingredient that inhibits the detoxification pathway. The
toxicity of isomalathion is not a major concern, but its synergistic/potentiating effect on
malaoxon is a concern.
The World Health Organization(2) (WHO) specifications for malathion state that the
malathion content shall be declared (not less than 950 g/kg) and, when determined, the
average measured content shall not be lower than the declared minimum content.
WHO goes on to state that the ULV could contain the following impurities:
Malaoxon (CAS No. 1634-78-2; butanedioic acid, (dimethoxyphosphino thioyl),
diethyl ester)
Isomalathion (CAS No. 3344-12-5; succinic acid, mercaptodiethylester, S-ester
with O,S-dimethyl phosphorodithioate)
MeOOSPS-triester (CAS No. 2953-29-9; phosphorodithioic acid, O,O,S- trimethyl
ester)
MeOOOPS-triester (CAS No. 152-18-1; phosphorothioic acid, O,O,O- trimethyl
ester)
The above impurities are manufacturing residues that remain in the product or
degradates. Isomalathion is an impurity known to be present at very low levels in both
technical grade and end-use product samples of malathion. These low levels of
isomalathion may be formed during the process of manufacturing malathion, and low
levels of isomalathion may also be formed if malathion undergoes chemical
rearrangement (isomerization) during product storage(3). It appears that the impurities
listed above by WHO will usually be present in technical malathion. The effect of the
impurities on the toxicity of technical malathion have been examined(4) and are
presented below.
TABLE 1: Toxicity of Malathion at 95% and 99+% purity.
Study
95%
LD50 adult Wistar rats1
925 mg/kg
2
LD50 adult mice
1985 mg/kg

99+%
3697 mg/kg
3000 mg/kg

1 Lu FC, Jessup DC, Lavallee A. 1965. Toxicity of pesticides in young versus adult rats. Fd Cosmet Toxicol 3:591596
2 Umetsu N, Grose FH, Allahyari R, et al. 1977. Effect of impurities on the mammalian toxicity of technical malathion
and acephate. J Agric Food Chem 25(4):946-953.

As the impurities increase, the toxicity of the mixture increases. The WHO has set a
lower limit for ultra-low volume malathion purity at 95%. This will limit the toxicity of the
mixture. If the concentration of malathion in the mixture falls below the 95% level, it will
no longer meet the WHO specification as ULV malathion.
There are few recommended exposure limits for airborne malathion probably due to
very few reports of toxic effects resulting from airborne malathion on humans.
Recommended exposure limits are extrapolated from large doses given to test animals.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set exposure guidelines for the
general public (5) as part of the Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous
Substances (AEGL) program. There are three levels of exposure. The one of concern
here is the lowest, the AEGL-1 for the airborne concentration (expressed as parts per
million or milligrams per cubic meter [ppm or mg/m3]) of a substance above which it is
predicted that the general population, including susceptible individuals, could
experience notable discomfort, irritation, or certain asymptomatic, non-sensory effects.
However, the effects are not disabling and are transient and reversible upon cessation
of exposure.
No experimental data on humans were found that could be used in the derivation of
AEGL-1 values. The guidelines are based on exposure levels of 450 mg/m3 for 6 hours
in rats. At this level there were only sporadically occurring symptoms and cholinesterase
activity inhibition that was not biologically significant after 13 weeks exposure. Airborne
concentrations below the AEGL-1 represent exposure levels that could produce mild
and progressively increasing but transient and nondisabling odor, taste, and sensory
irritation or certain asymptomatic, non-sensory effects.
The AEGL-1 values are 15 mg/m3 for exposures lasting 30 minutes to 8 hrs.
The American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) reported that in humans,
inhalation of approximately 85 mg/m3 malathion for 2 hours/day for 42 days was without
adverse effect. This level of exposure would be equivalent to inhaling about 21 mg/m3
over an 8-hour workday. They also reported that no inhibition was observed at 16
mg/day, which is equivalent to inhaling about 1.6 mg/m3 for 8 hours. No other adverse
effects have been demonstrated at dose or exposure levels lower than those that cause
acetylcholinesterase inhibition.
Consequently the ACGIH has set an exposure guideline for workers of 1 mg/m3 for
workers working an 8 hour day, 40 hour week for about 30 years.

Winnipeg Usage of Malathion

Winnipeg uses ultra-low volume (ULV) malathion. The material is stored in a
temperature controlled warehouse, with the temperature controlled at 20-23oC.

EPA has reported that data provided by the registrant indicate that Fyfanon Technical
(EPA Reg. No. 4787-5) is stable for 1 year when stored under warehouse conditions
(20-23C) although a small amount of isomalathion accumulated (increase from <0.01%
to about 0.1%). Storage of malathion at 54C for 2 weeks resulted in an increase of
isomalathion from about 0.05% to 0.2%.
It was reported that the last time the Winnipeg malathion was tested it was above the
95% limit (97%) and would meet the WHO specification for malathion content.
The malathion is applied at a worst case concentration of 50 ml/hectare. If we assume
the spray plume does not exceed 3 m in height (unlikely therefore worst case) the
airborne concentration will be about 2 mg/m3.
Worker exposures were measured during the application of malathion to determine
what worker exposures were. The average exposure for all workers over a workday was
below 0.0002 mg/m3.

Malathion Analysis
Eight samples were collected and sent to A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. for analysis for
malathion and isomalathion (See Attachment 1 for the Lab reports).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published the following specifications for
malathion and isomalathion(1).
Malathion
950g/kg (95%)
Isomalathion
0.4% of malathion (0.38% of total solution when
malathion @ 95%)
There were two sample batches, Jugs 1 4 were original Winnipeg malathion, Jugs 5
8 contained malathion purchased from Manitoba. There was a third batch purchased
from Saskatchewan on November 2015, and used this June. An analysis of malathion
was provided by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health. (See Attachment 1 for the Lab
reports)
The Results were as follows:
TABLE 2: Batch 1 - Winnipeg malathion

Jug 1
Jug 2
Jug 3
Jug 4
Average

Malathion (%)
98
98
98
97
98

Isomalathion (%)
0.31
0.37
0.25
0.27
0.30

Batch 1 meets the WHO guidelines for malathion (950 g/kg) and isomalathion (0.4%
of malathion) content and would meet the anticipated toxicity levels.
TABLE 3: Batch 2 - Manitoba malathion

Jug 5
Jug 6
Jug 7
Jug 8
Average

Malathion (%)
95
96
97
97
96

Isomalathion (%)
1.20
1.30
0.81
1.10
1.1

Batch 2 meets the WHO guidelines for malathion (950 g/kg) but not the guideline for
isomalathion (0.4% of malathion).
The increase in isomalathion levels would increase the toxicity of Batch 2. As shown in
Table 1 the toxicity could increase by a factor of 2 4.
TABLE 4: Batch 3 Data from Saskatchewan malathion

July 2015

Malathion (%)
96.3

Isomalathion (%)
Not Tested

Batch 3 meets the WHO guidelines for malathion (950 g/kg). Isomalathion was not
tested by Saskatchewan, and the material was used before the current samples were
taken.
The increase in isomalathion levels would increase the toxicity of Batch 3. As shown in
Table 1 the toxicity could increase by a factor of 2 4.

Discussion
The concentration of malathion during application is estimated to be 2 mg/m3. This is
below the AEGL-1 exposure guideline of 15 mg/m3 for up to 8 hours. Since the
exposure time is less than the 8 hour maximum there is a significant safety factor.
Batch 1, which meets the WHO guidelines, would not present an unacceptable risk to
the public based on the AEGL-1 criteria.
Batch 2 has excessive isomalathion levels, and the toxicity could be 2 - 4 times the level
that the WHO and AEGL-1 guidelines are based on. The toxic effects would be the
same, only enhanced by a factor of 2 - 4. For the public, this would be the equivalent of
applying compliant malathion at up to four times the concentration. The effect would be
the same as applying malathion at 4 - 8 mg/m3 instead of the current 2 mg/m3. Using
the effective dose of 8 mg/m3 the public exposure would be below the AEGL-1 guideline
of 15 mg/m3.

Batch 2, which does not meet the WHO guidelines, would not present an unacceptable
risk to the public based on the AEGL-1 criteria although it is potentially more toxic than
compliant mixtures.
Batch 3 meets the WHO requirement for malathion content. However: there is no data
available for the isomalathion that would suggest that it is meets or does not meet the
WHO recommended level for isomalathion. Therefore it should be assumed that it does
not and the toxic effects could be enhanced by a factor of 2 - 4. For the public, this
would be the equivalent of applying a fully compliant malathion mixture at up to four
times the concentration. The effect would be the same as applying malathion at 4 - 8
mg/m3 instead of the current 2 mg/m3. Using the effective dose of 8 mg/m3 the public
exposure would be below the AEGL-1 guideline of 15 mg/m3.
Batch 3, may not have met the WHO guidelines: however: it would not present an
unacceptable risk to the public based on the AEGL-1 criteria although it was potentially
more toxic than fully compliant mixtures.
Measurement showed that workers applying the malathion have exposures about
1/1000th of the occupational exposure limit and thus workers are not at a significant risk
when applying either mixture of malathion.

References
1. DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry PUBLIC HEALTH
STATEMENT MALATHION
CAS#: 121-75-5
2. World Health Organization WHO SPECIFICATIONS AND EVALUATIONS FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH PESTICIDES MALATHION S-1,2-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)ethyl
O,O-dimethyl phosphorodithioate
3. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. Malathion:
Revised Human Health Risk Assessment for the Reregistration Eligibility
Decision Document (RED). PC Code: 057701. Case No. 0248. DP Barcode:
D330680 July 31, 2006.
4. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health
Service Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, TOXICOLOGICAL
PROFILE FOR MALATHION September 2003.
5. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. Malathion
Result AEGL Program. ACUTE EXPOSURE GUIDELINE LEVELS (AEGLs)
FOR MALATHION (CAS Reg. No. 121-75-5)

Yours truly,
Elias Occupational Hygiene Consulting Inc.

John Elias, MPH, CIH, ROH, CRSP

Occupational Hygienist

ATTACHMENT 1

From the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health