Norway, Make up Your Mind or 2,4-D – No Reasonable Grounds

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the human health and environmental risks of products containing all forms of 2,4-D currently registered in Canada are, or their value is, unacceptable under current conditions of use. 

In 2013, pursuant to subsection 17(2) of the Pest Control Products Act, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) initiated a special review of pest control products containing 2,4-D based on the decision taken by Norway in 2000 to prohibit the use of this active ingredient due to human health and environmental concerns. The aspects of concern that prompted the special review were related to human health (potential carcinogenicity of 2,4-D) and the environment (high mobility and the potential for runoff of 2,4-D to aquatic habitats from treated areas; potential risk to aquatic plants following runoff).

In order to evaluate the aspects of concern identified by Norway, the PMRA has considered the available information from Norway pertaining to the health and environmental concerns identified in the Norway decision. In addition, the PMRA considered the currently available relevant scientific information, which includes information considered for the re-evaluation of 2,4-D and any relevant information obtained since then, such as the information on Canadian incident reports, surface water monitoring data, reviews of epidemiological studies on 2,4-D and other phenoxy herbicides available in the public domain, available assessments of the potential Re-evaluation Note - REV2017-08 Page 2 carcinogenicity of 2,4-D including the latest International Agency for Research on Cancer

In 2016, following a science-based assessment of the above aspects of concern, the PMRA published the proposed special review decision for 2,4-D (REV2016-08). The proposed decision indicated that the pest control products containing 2,4-D were acceptable for continued registration taking into account the current conditions of use, and proposed to confirm the current registration. Following the publication of REV2016-08, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority registered 2,4- D as a pest control product for use on turf in Norway as of April 2016.