WASHINGTON, April 1, 2016 – Canadian health experts have determined that “registered products containing 2,4-D are acceptable for continued registration” under current use conditions, painting a sharp contrast to decisions made by some other governments.
The decision by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) comes as part of a special review, triggered in part by Norway’s decision in 2000 to prohibit the use of products containing 2,4-D. The conclusion is consistent with the PMRA’s previous reviews, including the re-evaluation decisions in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2013.
The PMRA review determined that all forms of 2,4-D are not mutagenic or genotoxic and that “the overall weight of evidence indicates that 2,4-D is not carcinogenic in rats, mice, and dogs.”
In addition to the toxicity studies in animals, the PMRA considered expert assessments from numerous epidemiological studies on human exposure.
The agency reported that “while some of the studies suggest a possible association between 2,4-D exposure and increase in these tumors in humans, other epidemiological studies fail to support such association. Furthermore, it was concluded that the available epidemiological studies provide “equivocal or no evidence for an association between exposure to 2,4-D (and other chlorophenoxy herbicides) and other human cancers, including prostate, breast, pancreatic, colorectal, and brain cancers.”
In addition, the PMRA did not find any concerns related to the environment.
“The PMRA’s assessment of scientific data base is another, consistent regulatory decision that concludes the use of 2,4‑D not only protects food production but also the environment,” stated Jim Gray, Executive Director of the Industry Task Force II on 2,4‑D Research Data. The Task Force includes representatives of companies holding technical 2,4-D registrations: Dow AgroSciences (U.S.), Nufarm, Ltd. (Australia) and Agro-Gor Corp., a U.S. corporation jointly owned by Albaugh, LLC. (U.S.) and PBI-Gordon Corp. (U.S.).
“With this most recent regulatory decision, Canadian farmers, ranchers, grain producers, forestry and green space managers will be able to continue deriving benefit from the many low-cost, effective uses of 2,4-D,” Gray added.
The PMRA will now accept written comments on the review decision for the next 45 days. For more information on the decision, click here:
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