Australia’s chemical regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), has handed down the results of their review into the herbicides paraquat and diquat, determining that the chemicals could continue to be used safely with new restrictions applied.
The chemical has been under review by APVMA since 1997 and is banned in seventy countries, including the EU, the UK and in China where it is, somewhat paradoxically, still manufactured for the export market.
APVMA chief executive Scott Hansen said new restrictions would apply to use of paraquat, limiting application rates and methods, as well as permitted uses. Farmers will no longer be permitted to use the chemical with backpack sprayers, and enclosed mixing and loading systems will be required for all ongoing uses. The maximum rate of application will be reduced from 1,150 grams per hectare to 231 grams per hectare.
This decision goes against the recommendations of leading neurologists and Parkinson’s disease specialists. As previously reported in SafetyNet, dozens of neurologists and movement disorder specialists, along with Parkinson’s Australia, made submissions to the Australian chemical regulator during the review, calling for a ban on paraquat because of its links with Parkinson's disease.
Despite available data about the health concerns, the agriculture industry has come to rely on paraquat for weed control, with some farming groups expressing concern that the chemical would be banned. "Without viable or effective access to paraquat and diquat products, farmers may be forced to return to traditional tillage to manage weeds and resistance," the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) said in its submission to the APVMA review.
In response to APVMA’s decision to permit the use of paraquat with restrictions, Grain Producers Australia (GPA) claimed the decision was a victory and a positive outcome for grain producers.
However, earlier this month, Melbourne-based movement disorders specialist Dr Wesley Thevathasan said farmers were overly represented in APVMA’s public consultation process, whilst he and other experts who had made submissions to the review received no further contact from the regulator.
He said the evidence base used by the APVMA to date gave "almost no weight" to recent human studies. "There are now multiple epidemiological studies or real-world exposure studies that have suggested that paraquat increases the risk of Parkinson's disease by around threefold," Dr Thevathasan said.
Parkinson’s Australia has criticised APVMA’s decision as a failure and said that the control measures did not go far enough. "APVMA has failed not only farmers who use paraquat, but all the other Australians exposed to it," said Parkinson's Australia CEO Olivia Nassaris.
New registration conditions will apply to the labels of all paraquat and diquat products manufactured from today. Existing stock will be phased out over a two-year period, allowing the industry to identify and adopt alternative weed management strategies, and prepare for the implementation of new occupational health and safety measures.
Further information on this decision can be found on the APVMA website, including: