At the end of June, TopVeg reported the discovery of farm yard manure
contaminated with aminopyralid herbicides; on 24 July the Pesticides Safety
Directorate (PSD) issued an update on the situation:
1. Previous information concerning damage to allotment crops believed to
be caused by residues of the herbicide aminopyralid in manure can be
found in Regulatory Update 15/2008 (issued 16 June 2008)
and Regulatory Update 18/2008 (issued 11 July 2008).
2. PSD has already confirmed that using manure, which may contain
residues of aminopyralid, does not have implications for human health.
However, in response to the concerns of allotment holders and leisure
gardeners about damage believed to result from these residues, PSD has
been in contact with Dow AgroSciences Limited, the approval holder and
data owner for the majority of aminopyralid products approved in the UK.
Dow AgroSciences have asked for their approvals to be modified whilst
the situation is under investigation.
*PSD has accepted this and amended the approval
of all products containing aminopyralid to suspend the approval for
sale, supply, and use with immediate effect whilst further
investigations are undertaken.
*Storage is unaffected and it remains legal and safe for these products
to be stored by anyone.
This recent update confirms that the PSD have instigated sensible
controls whilst the contaminated manure saga is being investigated.
