Canada to cancel certain uses of fungicide captan

Date:04-06-2016

The Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has proposed to cancel certain uses of the fungicide captan based on the human health risk assessment. The agency has opened the public comments for 90 days until June 30, 2016. Uses of captan being proposed for cancellation are:

Commercial class products:
•    Greenhouse uses (except soil treatment, rhubarb in forcing sheds, and potted flowers);
•    Tree fruits (apple, pear, cherry, plum, prune, peach, nectarine, and apricot);
•    Grapes:
•    Ornamental stem dip and flower bulb dip;
•    Pumpkin, squash (mature);
•    Field tomato;
•    Berries (strawberry, loganberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry);
•    Field cut flowers;
•    On-farm seed treatment use of wettable powder formulation products as a dry hopper box treatment on beans.

Domestic class products:
•    All dust product uses;
•    Fruit (blackberries, strawberries);
•    Vegetables (cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes);
•    Flowers;
•    Outdoor ornamental trees and shrubs (rate of 2 g a.i./L);
•    Fruit trees (apples, apricots, cherries) (rate of 2 g a.i./L).

Captan is a contact fungicide with a multi-site mode of action (BCPC, 2014). It is used to control a broad range of diseases on a variety of use sites including greenhouse (food and non-food crops), seed treatment (food, feed and non-food), terrestrial feed and food crops, outdoor ornamentals, and turf (golf courses and sod farms only). Formulations include dusts, wettable powders, wettable granules, suspensions and solutions. Domestic class products for use by the general public include foliar and a dust applications. Commercial class captan products can be applied using airblast, backpack, field and aerial sprayers, by dipping of cuttings, bulbs and corms of ornamentals, by incorporating into the soil, and by treating seed (slurry machines or hand mixing with a paddle or shovel in a container or seed box and commercial seed treatment facilities) by farmers, farm workers, professional applicators and nursery workers.