Health
Canada released a document (Proposed Re-evaluation Decision PRVD2019-06,
Tebufenozide and Its Associated End-use Products) on June 11, 2019,
showing that Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) approved
to renew the registration of tebufenozide. It is said on the government website
that “this document is subject to a 90-day public consultation period, during
which the public including the pesticide manufacturers and stakeholders may
submit written comments and additional information to the PMRA. The final
re-evaluation decision will be published taking into consideration the comments
and information received.”
Canada is reevaluating pesticides
in terms of public health risks
The government of
Canada announced a statement on its website, saying that “Tebufenozide is an
insect growth regulator used to control Lepidoptera larvae on apples, pears,
ornamental crab apple trees, cranberries, bushberries, greenhouse vegetables,
greenhouse ornamentals, and forests and woodlots (restricted use). Tebufenozide
is applied using ground and aerial equipment. It is registered for commercial
use and can be used in residential areas by commercial applicators on
ornamentals and trees.”
In Canada,
tebufenozide is under re-evaluation by the PMRA which re-evaluates registered pesticides to
determine whether the use of these products continues to be acceptable in terms
of value, human health and the environment according to current standards. The PMRA was once
re-evaluated tebufenozide in 2017 in terms of its safety. On 16 November 2017,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also assessed the risk of
tebufenozide, toxicity, carcinogenicity, and its effect on human infants.
Tebufenozide has
high insecticidal activity, high selectivity for the targeted pests and low
toxicity. It is primarily used against Lepidopteron, such as bollworm, cabbage
caterpillar, diamondback moth as well as beet armyworm. The ovicidal activity
of tebufenozide is extremely high and it can be used safely without harming
non-target organisms. It does not do harm to human’s eyes or skin, nor does it
cause malformation, cancer or mutagenesis in animals with high intelligence. It
is also safe with mammal species, birds, and natural predators.
An overview
of pesticides that contains tebufenozide in China
By the end of
March in 2019, some companies in China have updated the price of tebufenozide. The
pesticide product from Shandong Libang Chemical Co., Ltd is RMB880 with each
pack of 40 bottles. Each bottle weighs 100g. It includes 20% of tebufenozide,
combining with emulsifier and softened water. It is a pesticide of acylurea and
low toxicity. The function of this pesticide causes premature molting in larvae.
The pesticide
from Jinan Tianbang Chemical Co., Ltd contains 20% of tebufenozide. The price
of it is RMB 700 for 360 bottles with 36ml each bottle. This product will also
cause premature molting in larvae. After applying the pesticide, larvae will
cease eating and the new cuticle will come earlier and become deformity under
the old cuticle so that the old cuticle are unable to be molted, causing the
larvae to die from dehydration. This pesticide is good to control the
reproduction of insects.
The pesticide
from Shandong Qingdao Runsheng Agrochemical Co., Ltd contains 10% of tebufenozide
and 0.5% of emulsifiable concentrate. It is RMB 215 with 20 bottles and each
bottle contains 300ml. It aims to kill the motor nerve of larvae so that they can
be killed from physical paralysis. It is a cure for beet armyworms.
The
product from Hebei Shenhua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd contains 200g of
tebufenozide each litre. It is RMB1055 with a total of 300 bottle, and each
weighs 30g. Larvae will be molting and cease eating after 6 to 8 hours of its
application.
For more information about China's pesticide market, please have a look at our monthly newsletter Insecticides China News.