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P A N U P S
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Pesticide Action Network
North America
Updates Service
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April 10, 1995
Denmark Proposes Bans on 7 Pesticides
The Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy recently
recommended that seven pesticides be banned and the use of
phenoxy acid herbicides be highly restricted because of
threats they pose to the environment and/or human health. If
the recommendations are accepted, diazinon and maleic
hydrazide will be banned because of potential threats to
ground water; carbendazim, chlorothalonil and thiophanate-
methyl will be banned because of persistence and/or toxicity;
and ioxynil and bromoxynil will be banned because of
unacceptably high toxicity to field mammals.
The proposed restrictions on the phenoxy acid group of
herbicides (MCPA, 2,4-D, mecoprop and dichlorprop) would
eliminate 95% of current registered uses, affecting 110
products, and resulting in a virtual ban of these products in
Denmark. The Ministry considers these restrictions necessary
due to increased ground water contamination by these
herbicides. According to current government policy, there is
no acceptable level of pesticide residues in ground water,
which is the source of 98% of Danish drinking water.
Danish agrochemical companies have three months to submit
comments on the proposed restrictions. A three month review
period will follow, after which the Ministry will make a
final decision on the recommendations.
The Ministry's proposal follows several actions by Greenpeace
Denmark, which has been actively campaigning for a switch
from synthetic pesticides to non-toxic alternatives. Last
year the group targeted Esbjerg Kemi A/S, a large pesticide
manufacturer and Denmark's only producer of phenoxy acid
herbicides. Greenpeace has been pushing for Esbjerg Kemi's
plant to stop producing organochlorine and phenoxy acid
pesticides before the Fourth North Sea Ministers conference
scheduled to be held in Esbjerg, Denmark, in June 1995. This
is the final of four meetings convened by North Sea-bordering
countries and intended to generate sufficient political
momentum to clean up the North Sea.
As part of their campaign, Greenpeace organized a blockade of
Esbjerg Kemi's pesticide plant in November 1994. Eight tons
of boulders were dropped in front of the main gate while
activists chained themselves to both the main and rear gates.
The blockade continued for seven days, without incident and
with considerable local support. It was called off after DLG
(Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab), the owner of Esbjerg Kemi,
agreed to establish a DLG/Greenpeace working group to develop
biological and other non-toxic methods of protecting crops.
A joint DLG/Greenpeace statement was issued after the working
group's first meeting in December 1994, which stated that
"import, production and use of pesticides that may end up in
our ground water or may pose other risks to the environment
or human health must be stopped." It went on to say that the
working group was established to examine possibilities for
"pesticide-free" agriculture through development of
environmentally sound alternatives. Additional working group
meetings are planned for 1995.
Source: Greenpeace Denmark Press Release, November 16, 1994
and December 13, 1994; Agrow, March 3, 1995.
Contact: Greenpeace Denmark, Bredgade 20, bagh.4, 1260
Copenhagen, Denmark; phone (45-33) 935 344; fax (45-33) 935
399.
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