[Technology R&D] Tackling the Dust Issue

FMC's Talstar EZ has been around for a couple of decades, but its reformulation — Talstar EZ Featuring Verge Granule Technology — is creating a fresh new buzz. It's all about the granule, a uniformly small, round, clay-based granule developed by Oil-Dri Corporation exclusively for FMC.

"We haven't changed the concentration or active ingredient (0.2% bifenthrin), but the advanced formulation does a better job of protecting operators from exposure and provides phenomenal ballistics," says Adam Manwarren, product manager at FMC Professional Solutions. "It applies evenly, disperses rapidly and creates almost zero dust. PMPs who have relied on Talstar for years are excited to discover that the new formula doesn't smell musty or leave a mess, and they don't have to wear it home."

A pyrethroid insecticide designed to control more than 75 surface-feeding lawn pests, from ants to chinch bugs, Talstar EZ Featuring Verge provides up to four months of residual protection, FMC says.

What's different? Clay-based granules typically generate dust because they are produced by grinding large, rock-sized pieces of clay down to pebble size or smaller. The resulting irregularly shaped granules rub against one another, causing tiny pieces to break off as particulates and dust.

To eliminate those break-offs, Oil-Dri turned that process around, choosing agglomeration over grinding for the new Talstar EZ granule. In short, clay powder is mixed with water and forced through an extruder to achieve a consistent diameter. The pieces are then fed into a rounding device that tumbles them at high speed until they are spherical. The granules emerge uniformly sized and shaped, providing these benefits:

• PMP friendliness. Virtually dust-free, the new formulation reduces operator exposure by keeping the surrounding air, as well as equipment and clothing, cleaner. It's easy on equipment, too, preventing the kind of wear and tear that jagged granules or sand formulas can cause, FMC says. As a bonus, the product has no odor (not surprising given granule creator Oil-Dri is also the world's largest manufacturer of cat litter).
   
• Improved ballistics. Since larger particles tend to fly farther than smaller ones, granule uniformity ensures more consistent distribution from the spreader, offering technicians better control and creating a more even barrier of protection. The improved ballistics and uniform formulation reduce application time, since fewer passes are needed to ensure full, consistent coverage. The active ingredient loading is more consistent in this granule formulation, too: Typically finer particles have a higher concentration while larger particles have a lower concentration, but the uniformly sized Verge granules reduce this variation and hold a more consistent loading of bifenthrin.
   
• Rapid release. Verge granules were designed to fully disintegrate into microparticles within a minute of being watered in, offering targeted delivery of the active ingredient before it can be displaced by mowing or foot traffic. This quick breakdown also ensures that the nonstaining Talstar EZ formula quickly blends into landscapes, minimizing the mess that often comes with pesticide application, FMC reports.

When poured from a height of 2½ feet, Talstar EZ with Verge granules release almost no dust. Less dust means neither the operator nor the equipment “wears” the granule home. (Photo: Oil-Dri Corporation)

Five years of testing. The Verge venture involved tenacity from both FMC and Oil-Dri. Focus groups, efficacy experiments (both lab and field) and stability testing ran a five-year course before the product was introduced to the market in late 2010. Perhaps most notably, tests were conducted with Talstar EZ to determine dust generation and application consistency.

"PMP focus groups confirmed what FMC had told us: that the most critical goals were, first, to reduce operator exposure to the product and, second, to provide a more consistent application process," says Mike McPherson, vice president of business-to-business marketing at Oil-Dri. "So following our initial phase of ensuring the ongoing effectiveness of Talstar EZ in its new formulation, we began experiments to measure dust and compare application results."

For the dust experiment, the product team positioned a mannequin behind a commercial spreader and set up EPA meters to measure the dust immediately released from the spreader, several feet away from the spreader and near the operator's face. Trays were positioned to capture the dispersion of the granules and enable the team to assess how much grinding goes on within the spreader. Visual inspections supported this experiment, as the team was able to clearly see how much product ended up on the mannequin's white pant legs. This experiment confirmed that the majority of product left behind on the operator is not airborne dust but rather tiny particles created as a spreader grinds irregularly shaped granules. Verge technology virtually eliminates both of these residue issues, FMC says.

Application experiments involved placing collection trays in various positions related to the swath width and walking through the swath to measure how evenly the granules were being distributed. These experiments proved that the Verge granules virtually eliminate variability of distribution, ensuring uniform application of the product, FMC says.
 

Application & Packaging. Talstar EZ Featuring Verge Granule Technology can be used in mound, perimeter and broadcast applications, and is labeled for use on lawns, landscaped areas and perimeters around residential, institutional, public, commercial and industrial buildings, parks, recreational areas and athletic fields. FMC notes that spreaders should be calibrated to accommodate the consistency of the granules. (See "Calibration Tips" above.)

Each 25-pound resealable bag of Talstar EZ Featuring Verge can treat approximately 11,000 square feet (a quarter acre) when applied at the most common labeled use rate. This product features a "caution" label. Visit www.fmcprosolutions.com/pestcontrol to download the label and MSDS.
 

The author is a Cleveland-based freelancer. She can be reached at ddefranco@giemedia.com.