A few days ago, the four ministers of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, of Health, of the Economy and of Finance and of Agriculture and Food, had decided to suspend for three months the use of phyto products based on metam-sodium. This decision was taken following 3 cases of respiratory poisoning affecting residents or employees of farms in Maine-et-Loire and a 4th case of poisoning reported in the department of Finistère, “pending the outcome of the re-examination of the conditions and methods of use of these products, which has been requested from the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) ” then underlined the ministers in a press release.
After reassessing the risks to human health and the environment of these products taking into account their conditions of use, the National Agency for Food Safety and Security (ANSES) has just announced the withdrawal of the marketing authorization (AMM) for all products containing metam-sodium in France.
A product used in market gardening and horticulture
Used in market gardening or in horticulture, phytopharmaceutical products based on metam-sodium are used to disinfect the soil before the establishment of a crop. They are used in particular in tomato cultivation Where lamb’s lettuce. But this phytosanitary product is one of the most worrying active substances having been identified in the national action plan on “plant protection products and less dependent agriculture. to pesticides“, for which the government has requested a scientific review by ANSES. Because, although they are applied to small market garden areas, “these products need to be used in large quantities to act effectively. Thus, the application rate is between 300 and 1200 liters per hectare, which represents nearly 700 tonnes used each year in France” underlines ANSES.
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