Fenthion Review History and Regulatory Outcomes
Nomination for review
In December 1994 fenthion was nominated for review as part of the Existing Chemicals Review Program (ECRP) established to systematically review a number of Agvet chemicals that have been on the Australian market for some time. Fenthion was nominated because of concerns about public health, occupational health and safety, food residues and the environment.
The review of fenthion has been split into two parts:
- Part 1 is considering the active constituent fenthion and products that are used in non-food producing situations
- Part 2 is considering the products used on food-producing plants and animals.
Currently, only the findings for Part 1 are available. A Preliminary Review Findings (PRF) report for Part 2 will be released after the initial assessment is completed.
Part 1—fenthion and uses in non-food producing situations
Preliminary Review Findings Report
In December 2005 the APVMA released the Fenthion Preliminary Review Findings Report: Part 1 (PDF, 543kb). The APVMA’s preliminary findings for the Part 1 review were that:
- some product labels did not contain adequate first aid and safety directions or require personal protective equipment (PPE) to allow safe use
- there was a potential risk to users from the application of fenthion products using high pressure hand-held application methods
- there is a potential risk to human heath from the use of some more concentrated products in the home garden
- there is a risk to the environment from some application methods
- the use of bird control products may have unintended impacts on non-target birds. Existing labels for these products at the time of the PRF did not contain adequate information for use of the products.
The APVMA requested more information on the use of bird control products (avicides) to assess any possible impact on non-target birds due to exposure to the product itself or from the effects on predatory birds that may eat dead or dying birds.
In the preliminary report the APVMA proposed:
- varying product labels to:
- add new warning statements, safety directions and instructions for personal protective equipment
- delete the high pressure hand application method for emulsifiable concentrates considered to pose an unacceptable risk to human health
- update product labels to remove inadequate and ambiguous instructions
- add additional environmental warning statements for products used for mosquito control. - cancelling the registration and product label approvals of one home garden product containing 550 g/L fenthion for use in home garden and domestic situations (this product is no longer registered).
Part 2—Uses of fenthion on food-producing plants and animals
The assessment of fenthion products used in food-producing situations is still in progress and a PRF report will be released after the assessment is completed.
The APVMA will issue a final report once the assessment of all available data is completed.