Brazil's Anvisa suggests ban of carbofuran

The board of Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) decided to submit to a public consultation the reevaluation of the agrochemicals carbofuran, thiram and lactofen. These substances are under revision for eight years and the rapporteur of the carbofuran’s lawsuit requested the ban of carbofuran in the Brazilian market.

The rapporteur José Carlos Magalhães da Silva Moutinho affirms that “the carbofuran (metilcarbamato de 2,3-diidro-2,2-dimetilbenzofuran-7-ila) is an insecticide/nematicide of the group carbamate broad spectrum, which the allowance was banned or is being reevaluated in several countries of the world. The mode of action of carbofuran is not specie-specific, affecting also the non-target species, including human beings”.

"The ban of carbofuran is suggested because it fits on the lines “c” (for bring tratogenic and mutagenic), “d” (for causing damage to the reproductive system), “e” (for being more dangerous to humans than animals in laboratory tests could demonstrate) of the § 6 of the article 3 of the Law No.7,802/89”, concludes Moutinho. For this product, the public consultation will ends on February 25.

About thiram, the Anvisa director Ivo Bucaresky issued a favorable opinion. “After the analysis of the toxicological studies and revision of the literature, which was taken into consideration of the results, the scientific quality and weight of the evidence of the evaluated studies, and facing the determinations of the Brazilian legislation, concluded that the available data does not bring consistent evidence to affirm that the active ingredient is mutagenic, productive toxic, teratogenic or the deregulator endocrine, are the motivations that originated this reevaluation. The goal of this norm is to propose the maintenance of the registration of products based on thiram in Brazil, once it does not fit on the characteristics prohibited by the legislation”.

Besides this fungicide, Bucaresky also positioned himself for the maintenance of the registration of lactofen, which is a herbicide for the post-emergency of invasive plants on soybeans. “On the light of the current scientific knowledge involving carcinogenicity and reproductive effect of lactofen, there is no sufficient technical basis to fundament an evocation of the Precautionary Principle,” sustains him. The deadline for submissions of contributions of these two substances will last until March 7.