Brazil bans pesticide aldicarb

Aldicarb, pesticides used illegally as domestic rodenticide (BB), was banned from the Brazilian market, said the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) on 5th November.

Government estimates indicate that the product is responsible for almost 60% of the 8000 cases of poisoning related to pellet in Brazil every year. Aldicarb has the highest toxicity among all active ingredients of pesticides previously approved for use in the country.

The only product based on aldicarb had authorization to use Temik in Brazil was 150, from Bayer. It is a pesticide granules, classified as extremely toxic, which had approval for agricultural use only, as an insecticide, acaricide and nematicide, on crops of potatoes, coffee, citrus and sugar cane, said ANVISA.

Through a statement, the agency said that the deregistration of products based on aldicarb following recommendation made during a meeting in 2006, the Commission Revaluation Toxicology. At the time, established a series of measures for the continued use of aldicarb in Brazil, such as the restriction of sales to the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais and São Paulo, exclusively for farmers and property certificates registered to use the product, and addition of bittering agent and emetic (substance that induces vomiting) in product formulation.

After the revaluation process, Bayer S / A had, in 2011, a timeline of discontinuity marketing and closing the import, distribution and use of the product. The company also undertook to make the payment of any leftover product in the possession of farmers.

In June 2012, ANVISA canceled the report of toxicological assessment of pesticide aldicarb-based and, in October 2012, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply published the deregistration of Temik 150. With the decision, are prohibited in Brazil the production, sale and use of any pesticide aldicarb-based.