Endosulfan phase-out

Janice LeBoeuf, OMAFRA Vegetable Crop Specialist, Ridgetown

The PMRA has released a document describing the terms of the phase-out of endosulfan insecticide from now until December 31, 2016, when the registrations of all endosulfan pesticide products in Canada will expire. Use will be limited to those crops for which growers need time to develop alternative pest control tools. Applicators must also observe new measures to protect the health of workers and aquatic environments.

Consult the document to be aware of label changes and new measures that will have to be followed by applicators.  For example, for the EC formulation on tomato, pepper, and eggplant there is now a 4 day re-entry interval and the pre-harvest interval has been increased from 2 days to 27 days.  For the WP formulation on those crops, there is now a 9 day re-entry interval and the pre-harvest interval has been increased from 2 days to 27 days.

Key dates for field vegetables

Last date of use is December 31, 2010 on the following vegetable crops:

• All product formulations: spinach, succulent beans, succulent peas;
• WP product formulation: above crops and field tomatoes, sweet corn.

Last date of use is December 31, 2012 on the following vegetable crops:

• broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, corn (sweet), rutabaga, turnip.

Last date of use is December 31, 2016 on the following vegetable crops:

• celery, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce (head), melon, pepper, potato, pumpkin, squash, sugar beet, tomato.

After December 31, 2011, endosulfan pesticide may only be sold if the label includes last dates of use and other restrictions to the use pattern that are required for the duration of the phase-out period. It is expected that stocks of Thionex 50WP will have been exhausted through sale and use by mid 2012 and will have been replaced on the market by Thionex 50WP-WSP.

Registrants will cease production and sale of endosulfan pesticide products by December 31, 2014. Sale of endosulfan pesticide products by others is not permitted after December 31, 2015. Use of endosulfan products is not permitted after December 31, 2016.

Consult the full document on the Health Canada website for complete information.  Endosulfan and other pesticide labels can be found using the PMRA’s pesticide search tool online.