More Australian MRL (maximum residue limits)

Twenty-two of the 4,127 crop samples tested in Australia in the year to June 30th 2007 contained illegal pesticide residues, according to the annual National Residue Survey (NRS). This was a sharp increase on the four violations in 2005/06, but similar to the 20 seen in the prior year.

 

Ten of the 792 samples of horticultural produce tested in 2006/07 contained residues above maximum residue limits (MRLs), whereas no violations were found in these commodities in 2005/06. Nine violations occurred in apples and one in pears during the latest sampling period. The apple violations were linked to the insecticides, bifenthrin (four samples) and chlorpyrifos (two), and the fungicide, iprodione (three). The fungicide, imazalil, caused the MRL exceedance in pears, the NRS notes.

 

There were 12 MRL violations in the 3,335 grain samples tested in 2006/07. Three of the violations occurred in canola and the rest in cereal grains. The insecticides, methoprene, carbaryl and chlorpyrifos-methyl, were linked to the violations in canola. The fungicide, flutriafol, was linked with two MRL violations in wheat and barley, while chlorpyrifos and methoprene were also found above MRLs on these crops. Flutriafol and the insecticide, fenitrothion, were above MRLs in oats, and the insecticide, indoxacarb, was linked with a violation in sorghum.

 

     Australian pesticide residue monitoring 2006/07

Commodity      Samples tested      MRL violations

Cereals            3,054                9

 Wheat             2,383                4

 Barley              569                2

 Sorghum              63                1

 Oats                 38                2

 Triticale             1                0

Pulses                96                0

 Lupins               39                0

 Field peas           41                0

 Faba beans            8                0

 Chickpeas             8                0

Canola               185                3

Horticultural crops  792               10

 Apples              455                9

 Macadamia nuts      118                0

 Onions               98                0

 Pears                91                1

 Blueberries          30                0

Total              4,127               22