Campaigners have denounced the government
after the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) announced that diazinon would no
longer be sold in two products used as pesticides on mushroom compost.
Diazinon is the active ingredient used in organophosphorus
(OP) sheep dips which will still be available to farmers. Some scientists think
diazinon is responsible for acute and chronic poisoning of sheep farmers.
"This is not a ban on diazinon," said Elizabeth Sigmund,
co-ordinator of the OP Information Network (OPIN). "They have revoked the
approval for it (in pesticides) because the chemical companies did not provide
essential data for the approval to continue. This is just bureaucracy
working."
Ms Sigmund demanded an urgent review of chemical company data
on diazinon used in sheep dips. "If the data required for diazinon-based
pesticide products is insufficient or not forthcoming, the same must apply to
sheep dip products-otherwise we would want to know what the difference in the
data is."
PSD confirmed that no new data had been offered by the
companies during the current review of ten OP active ingredients, including
diazinon. This means the companies have taken a commercial decision not to
support the marketing of products containing diazinon and nine other pesticides:
heptenophos, mephosfolan, phos-alone, quinalphos, thiometon, trichlorfon,
pyrazophos, carbaryl and ethfencarb.
From 20 April, approval holders and their agents had to stop
selling the relevant products: others were given two years to sell on and use
existing stocks. Companies now have until September 18 to supply data supporting
the remaining 28 active ingredients in the review.
A similar review of OP veterinary medicines was held in the
early 1990s. Food safety minister Mr Rooker explained that the companies
produced full data packages for sheep dips and other veterinary medicines with
diazinon as the active ingredient. In addition, the Veterinary Products
Committee (VPC) ran reviews on the safety of OP sheep dips in 1993 and 1997.
"The VPC is currently reviewing OP-based veterinary
medicines other than sheep dips and the withdrawal of the two diazinon
pesticides will be drawn to the committee's attention," Mr Rooker said.
While the Minister's comments sound reassuring, they
neglect the sheer complexity of the review process. The PSD's current review
of OP active ingredients is taking place under the 1986 Control of Pesticides
Regulations, and is not linked to European Union (EU) directives or regulations.
Yet the EU has been running a review of agro-chemicals since 1992 to try to
harmonise the approvals system (see opposite). On the veterinary medicines side,
the licensing Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has a five-year rolling
review which is governed by EU legislation.
At the VMD, reviews are done in a different way from the PSD.
As a rule of thumb, the PSD will review active ingredients before making a
decision about the products which contain them. The VMD reviews specific
products each time their marketing authorisation is considered. Veterinary
medicines-including OP sheep dips-are authorised under a different EU
directive from the one covering OP agro-chemical active ingredients. This is
directive number 81/85 which established the rolling, five-year review of
marketing authorisations for veterinary medicines. Regulations introduced in
1994 cover new authorisations.
In addition, in 1995 the Government asked the Institute of
Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh to examine the possible human health effects
of exposure to OP sheep dip. The draft report has been delivered to the HSE, and
is thought to support the argument that OPs can cause chronic damage.
John Harvey is a broadcaster and writer
on farming issues.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 44,
June 1999, page 9]