Chemical name: Urea, N'-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-methoxy-N-methyl-

Final regulatory action has been taken for the category: Pesticide

Final regulatory action: The chemical is Banned

Use or uses prohibited by the final regulatory action:

All formulations containing linuron.

Pesticide use or uses that remain allowed:

None

The final regulatory action was based on a risk or hazard evaluation: Yes

Summary of the final regulatory action:

It is prohibited to import, sell and use Linuron as a pesticide.

The reasons for the final regulatory action were relevant to: Human health and environment

Summary of known hazards and risks to human health:

Linuron was found to induce malformations, typical for anti-androgens, in male reproductive organs and was carcinogenic in animal studies. It was also shown to induce haemolytic anaemia at low doses.

Expected effect of the final regulatory action in relation to human health:

Complete risk reduction.

Summary of known hazards and risks to the environment:

During the assessment of this pesticide, a number of areas of concern were identified. Linuron can under certain circumstances be persistent in both soil and water/sediment systems. Linuron can accumulate in soil, especially in cases of organic soils and applications every year. DT50s in soil are in the range of 38-137 days and DT90 = 450 days at 25ºC. As temperature and soil moisture drops, half-lives increase and have been seen to come up to 638 days under certain conditions. In soil types with little organic matter there is a risk of surface run off of linuron to surface waters in concentrations above the drinking water limit of 0.1 µg/l. Linuron has been found in Norwegian surface waters at concentrations well above 0.1 µg/l (suface water monitoring programme) an up to and above levels that may cause acute effects on aquatic organisms. Linuron has also been found in ground water close to the surface in Norway. The risk of chronic negative effects on terrestric wildlife is regarded as low but as linuron is very toxic to algae and other aquatic organisms the risk to aquatic wildlife can be considered as considerable. In addition, linuron has anti androgenic properties that may cause unwanted effects in the environment. As far as Norwegian Authorities are aware this has not been investigated in detail.

In addition to all this, much of the submitted data was old and of poor quality (not GLP or according to guidelines) and many important data requirements from the last registration has to been submitted.

Expected effect of the final regulatory action in relation to the environment:

Complete risk reduction.

Date of entry into force of the final regulatory action: 19/01/2007