The Costa Rican government issued a decree on November 30 banning the use of chlorothalonil.
The Costa Rican presidential Palace issued a press release saying that the presidential Palace and the Costa Rican Ministries of Health, environment and Agriculture jointly signed the ban on chloroacetonil decree. The decree says chlorothalonil is a pesticide that is harmful to the environment, groundwater and public health, and that it is a possible carcinogen. The decree states that "the registration, import, export, manufacture, preparation, storage, distribution, transportation, repackaging, handling, sale, mixing and use of raw materials or prepared products containing chlorothalonil are prohibited" in Costa Rica.
Chlorothalonil is a broad-spectrum protective fungicide that is widely used in Costa Rica on crops such as vegetables and fruits. According to the decree, the pesticide is highly persistent in the environment, is highly toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates when used in the rainy season, and its degradation products may be toxic to mammals and birds, including carcinogenic effects.
The European Union banned the use of chlorothalonil in 2019.
Last year, there were media reports that Germany found traces of chlorothalonil in a shipment of fruits imported from Costa Rica. This is not the first time Costa Rica has been found to have excessive pesticide residues.
Costa Rica has the highest average use of pesticides per hectare of farmland in the world, according to new data released this week by the Regional Institute for Toxic Substances at the National University of Costa Rica, in stark contrast to the country's "green" international image. Last year, a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the heavy use of pesticides in Costa Rica, saying that the misuse of pesticides, most of which occurred in the agricultural sector, such as banana, coffee and pineapple plantations, affected the health and threatened the lives of plantation workers, resulting in many cases of poisoning.
Costa Rica is developing a comprehensive pesticide management policy aimed at reducing the risks associated with the use of pesticides and improving management at the national level.
Chlorothalonil is banned in Costa Rica
2023 12/05