EU decides to phase out herbicide linuron by June

The European Commission has decided to withdraw authorisations for all products containing herbicide, linuron, by 3 June 2017 at the latest. Any grace period granted by Member States shall be as short as possible and shall expire by 3 June 2018 at the latest.

 

Approval for linuron was not renewed because it is classified as toxic for reproduction category 1B and negligible exposure could not be demonstrated. Furthermore, in addition to the classification of linuron as toxic for reproduction category 1B, linuron is also classified as carcinogenic category 2 and therefore shall be considered to have endocrine disrupting properties. In addition, the available evidence showed that linuron has endocrine disrupting properties that may cause adverse effects on endocrine organs in humans and non-target organisms. A high risk to certain non-target species was also identified.

Products containing linuron include Lingo, Afalon, Cleancrop Affable, Datura and Nightjar.