As most Agsafe members will know, earlier this year the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) cancelled the registration of any product containing the chemical Dichlorvos following a suspension and phase out period. The chemical is an organophosphorus insecticide and was mainly used as a fumigant or spray.
The cancellation was in response to a review of the chemical by the APVMA that identified concerns relating to trade, public and occupational health and safety, environmental impacts and residues of this active constituent.
The APVMA determined that the concerns relating to Dichlorvos were real due to its high acute toxicity and its carcinogenic potential, and that there was a significant risk to human and animal health. They determined there was a potential risk to users relating to application methods, product label instructions, exposures, safety standards and warnings.
Agsafe recommends that any reseller or customer still holding stores of Dichlorvos product register them with ChemClear for responsible disposal as soon as possible.
National ChemClear Program Manager Lisa Nixon said, “ChemClear is the right program for the safe collection and disposal of products containing Dichlorvos in Australia. We have 121 participating manufacturers in the ChemClear scheme and it is our policy to accept their products up to two years from deregistration with the APVMA.”
She continued, “Given the two year limit, it is important that those holding stocks of Dichlorovos from any of our manufacturers register their product before January 2017 for free disposal. Anyone storing chemicals containing the product after this time can still register them with ChemClear, but the service will attract a fee per litre for disposal.”
Download an Inventory Form and record any unwanted products. Interested persons can then either register on the same site, call 1800 008 182 or email the form back to chemclear@toxfree.com.au – it’s that easy.
ChemClear has collected and disposed of over 501 tonnes of surplus agvet chemical across Australia since the start of the program in 2003.
