The rules for the use of plant protection products containing the substance prosulfocarb were tightened no later than 2019. The Swedish Chemicals Agency is now introducing even stricter conditions.
Prosulfocarb is used, among other things, in herbicides on autumn cereals.
The agents spread easily with the wind and risk ending up on nearby fruit and vegetable plantations – which must not contain prosulfocarb. Growers then risk being forced to throw away large parts of their harvest.
In 2019, the Swedish Chemicals Agency limited its use to evening and night time at an air temperature of no more than 15 degrees and wind speed of no more than three meters per second.
Despite this, it has happened that fruit from adjacent plantations has exceeded limit values.
The authority is now introducing even stricter conditions to reduce the risk of spreading. The new conditions mean that those who use agents with prosulfocarb must use equipment that reduces the risk of the agent spreading with the wind.
Wind drift must be reduced by at least 90 percent and the driving speed during use may be a maximum of eight kilometers per hour. Otherwise, the conditions are unchanged, the Swedish Chemicals Agency writes in a press release.
The changed conditions apply to the plant protection products Boxer, Roxy 800 EC, Jura and Purelo.