what garden products contain carbendazim?
Answers:
Carbendazim
Carbendazim is a fungicide of major concern due to its suspected hormone disrupting effects. It has been highlighted by Friends of the Earth as one of their ‘filthy four’ pesticides as it could be harmful to human health and the environment.
Carbendazim is a systemic benzimidazole fungicide(1) that plays a very important role in plant disease control(2). It was first reported in 1973(3) and was developed by BASF, Hoeschst (now part of Bayer) and Dupont(4). Carbendazim is used to control a broad range of diseases on arable crops (cereals, oilseed rape), fruits, vegetables and ornamentals(5). It is also used in post-harvest food storage, and as a seed pre-planting treatment(6). It is frequently sold in combination with other fungicides, such as triazoles, dithiocarbamates and dicarboximides(7). Carbendazim works by inhibiting the development of fungi probably by interfering with spindle formation at mitosis (cell division)(8).
Usage
Carbendazim has extensive applications worldwide(9), with the global market worth over $200 million at user level, equivalent to over 12000 tones active ingredient(10). It is particularly applied in Europe and the Far East(11). In China, production is over 8000 tonnes per year, and 1000 tonnes are produced every year in India, where the increasing consumption of carbendazim has now reached over 700 tonnes per annum(12). In Great Britain, the annual area treated in 2001 was 819,398 hectares, with arable crops accounting for 95% (718,757 hectares) of this use(13). For example, 38.6% of the winter oil seed rape grown (197,463 ha) in Great Britain is given at least one treatment of carbendazim, and 24% (71,548 ha) is given two treatments(14). Over the years, there has been a gradual reduction in carbendazim use – in 1996 just over two million hectares were treated with carbendazim in Great Britain, compared to nearly 1.8 million hectares in 1999 and 821,000 hectares in 2000(15). This is because modern conazole and strobilurin fungicides are more efficacious(16).
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