Safety first with garden pesticides

Ministers at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) have reviewed  policy for garden pesticides and have decided rules will not be relaxed. Pesticides which have the potential to cause harm especially in normal use will not be available for sale for amateur garden use, according to a recent MAFF statement(1).  
    The previous government initiated the review, as part of its drive towards deregulation, to consider whether the existing rules for the approval of home garden pesticides were unnecessarily restrictive. By September 1997 the new government had considered the findings of a working group set up by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) and indicated that the rules should not be changed, in order to protect people and the environment.

Amateur use of dichlorophen banned
A recent example of MAFF's tough stance came on 1 November when it banned the garden-use of pesticides containing dichlorophen (a moss-killer, fungicide, bactericide and algicide), following a review by the ACP(2).
    MAFF took the action because new research demonstrates that liquid formulations containing 40g per litre or more of dichlorophen could cause serious eye irritation. Other marketed products containing this active ingredient for professional use are not affected by the ban.
    The manufacturers have launched a product recall and safe disposal programmes for consumers to return banned stock. Users are advised not to dispose of these products on land, or down the sink, toilet or drains because of the risk of exposure. Nor should they be put in domestic bins because of the risk to refuse workers if a bottle were punctured. 

Non-chemical alternatives  
Some retailers have complained about the ban in the horticulture press saying it is unnecessarily stringent. However, IPM advice from the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] suggests that effective moss control can be achieved without the use of dichlorophen(3). There are a range of cultural control techniques available that include improved drainage and aeration, with the possible use of calcinated sulphate of iron, which should adequately control moss. (DB)

1. MAFF press release, 20 October 1997.  
2. MAFF press release, 30 October 1997.  
3. An IPM Approach to Turf and Lawn Management, The Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK], September 1997.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 38, December 1997, page 19]