What is chlorpyrifos?

Chlorpyrifos

If you take a look at the pesticide residue notifications in the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, you will find the active ingredient chlorpyrifos is often the subject of notifications. In numerous product groups and from a wide variety of countries, goods are found to contain the residue of chlorpyrifos. In the worst case the goods are rejected at one of the EU's external borders.

But what is chlorpyrifos and why is it found so frequently in food products?

Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide whose authorisation in the European Union was not renewed at the beginning of 2020. Accordingly, the maximum residue levels for chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl were lowered to 0.01 mg/kg for all food and feed products throughout the EU in November 2020. Based on the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US the tolerances for all commodities expired in February 2022.

Although chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl are banned in the EU and the US, they might still be used in other countries of the world. This means that products treated with these substances could still be imported into the European and American markets.

We detect chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl within our pesticide multi-method and offer international pre-shipment inspection and sampling to help you lowering your risk.

Please reach out for further information and contact us at food@gba-group.de