Capture of Health Canada by Syngenta – Abamectin
In the story of abamectin, there is evidence of capture: from PMRA working with Syngenta to set up the first residue levels, to PMRA discounting valid scientific findings, to accepting Syngenta’s spurious scientific rationale even when it runs against PMRA’s own policy, to not disclosing information that could damage the proposals requested by Syngenta.
“Highly Uncertain” Science Used for Pesticide Limits
Pesticide limits for sugar beet roots – the first up for MRL increases after the “pause” – are based on uncertain science
Confidential test data reveals there is “High uncertainty of [the] MRL estimate” for two increases of pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) on sugar beet roots (used for sugar products), which were requested by Syngenta and proposed by Health Canada. The proposed MRLs, which are 200 times and 10 times higher than current levels, were calculated using the OECD Calculator. The output page of the calculator flags in red that there is high uncertainty because small data sets were used.
Health Canada does not mention these uncertainties in its proposals for the two pesticides, PMRL 2023-34 for Fludioxonil (FL) and PMRL 2023-38 for Azoxystrobin (AZ). The proposed increases are from 0.02 to 4.0 ppm for FL, and from 0.5 to 5.0 ppm for AZ.
Notably these are two of the very first …Read More
