A casual surve of phospate remover labels on the market reveals a host of convoluted phrases hinting that the product will hinder algae growth, but not actually stating so in blunt terms. Look out for the following phrases:
"Prevents buildup in your aquarium"
"Removes organic growth"
"Removes excess nutrients from water"
All of these claims hint toward the real reason to use phospate removers: algae control. So why dont the labels just say that the product helps control algae?
The blunt reason why manufactuerers do not make these claims is that under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act any product that claims to kill, remove or prevent algae is considered a pesticide and subject to regulation by the EPA.
The mininum cost to register an algecide with the EPA is roughly $100,000 once all the required data gathering, testing and analysis are done. After that, the product must be registered in all states, adding an annual registration cost of up to $20,000 to the product.
Often, the return on investment does not justify the cost of registering a product as a pesticide with the EPA. This is the reason for all the obfuscation on the labels.
Companies making direct algecidal claims on their labels without registering their products industry remains small enough to avoid attracting much regularory scrunity. But that is not alsways true.
In 2001 and 2002, a prominent aquarium products manufacturer faced heavy fines formt he EPA for making algaecide claims on packaging of UV sterilizers. They eventually settled with the agency by paying more than $200,000.
Just something i found in a fish book article. I figured i would share it with people just found it interesting.
"Prevents buildup in your aquarium"
"Removes organic growth"
"Removes excess nutrients from water"
All of these claims hint toward the real reason to use phospate removers: algae control. So why dont the labels just say that the product helps control algae?
The blunt reason why manufactuerers do not make these claims is that under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act any product that claims to kill, remove or prevent algae is considered a pesticide and subject to regulation by the EPA.
The mininum cost to register an algecide with the EPA is roughly $100,000 once all the required data gathering, testing and analysis are done. After that, the product must be registered in all states, adding an annual registration cost of up to $20,000 to the product.
Often, the return on investment does not justify the cost of registering a product as a pesticide with the EPA. This is the reason for all the obfuscation on the labels.
Companies making direct algecidal claims on their labels without registering their products industry remains small enough to avoid attracting much regularory scrunity. But that is not alsways true.
In 2001 and 2002, a prominent aquarium products manufacturer faced heavy fines formt he EPA for making algaecide claims on packaging of UV sterilizers. They eventually settled with the agency by paying more than $200,000.
Just something i found in a fish book article. I figured i would share it with people just found it interesting.
