The new standards update the technical indicators and thresholds for the identification of such pesticides based on their active ingredients, using the following criteria:
1. Acute toxicity to mammals and birds
2. Carcinogenicity
3. Mutagenicity to mammals
4. Developmental and reproductive toxin
5. Endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC)
6. Acute toxicity to aquatic organisms
7. Persistence in soil or water and soil sorption potential and bio-magnification and bio-accumulation
8. International legislation
9. Dioxins (residues or emissions)
10. Heavy metals
The list of highly hazardous pesticides identified using the new indicators and thresholds looks significantly longer than the previous published list, but in fact this is only because the previous list was less exhaustive in terms of the pesticides it considered. Using a new global list of candidate pesticides, FSC International has found that 534 would be considered highly hazardous using previous indicators and thresholds, whereas 389 are considered highly hazardous using the new standards.
The listing of a pesticide as ‘highly hazardous’ does not mean that the pesticide cannot be used under any circumstances, but in order to reduce the risk of negative environmental or human health impacts these pesticides must be avoided, and only used in FSC certified forests if there is no viable alternative. Non-chemical methods or less hazardous pesticides shall be preferred, and ultimately the use of the most hazardous pesticides should be eliminated.
Forest owners and managers wishing to use highly hazardous pesticides must justify such use through a specific process which includes consultation with social, environmental and economic stakeholders. This is the ‘derogation’ process; the consultation on an application to extend an existing derogation for the use of the herbicide propyzamide in the UK is currently open, click here for more information.
The new standards are FSC-STD-30-001 V1-0 EN Indicators and thresholds for the identification of ‘highly hazardous’ pesticides (HHP) and FSC-STD-30-001a EN FSC List of 'highly hazardous' pesticides. They replace FSC-GUI-30-001 V2-0 EN FSC Pesticides Policy: guidance on implementation and its annexes. They can be downloaded below.