EU phase-out for acetochlor

Date:12-23-2011

The European Commission has decided not to re-register the herbicide, acetochlor. It has instructed EU member states to withdraw approvals by 23 June 2012. Grace periods for using existing stocks must be less than 12 months. Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto have jointly resubmitted acetochlor’s application in 2009.

The decision on acetochlor was based on concerns over the potential human exposure above the acceptable daily intake, and the potential for human exposure to the surface water metabolite t-norchloro acetochlor, the genotoxicity of which cannot be excluded. There is a high risk of groundwater contamination for several metabolites, a high risk for aquatic organisms and a high long term risk for herbivorous birds. Finally, the information available was not sufficient to conclude on the risk assessment for the groundwater contamination for metabolites t-norchloracetochlor and t-hydroxyacetochlor.