Pesticide Action Australia

28/07/2026

Syngenta will stop selling paraquat - the highly hazardous pesticide linked to Parkinson's disease - in Australia and New Zealand.

This is a win for everyone who has raised their voice about the harm. 👏

But, waiting for foreign corporations to conclude that their market has shrunk and deciding to withdraw is NOT an acceptable substitute for a regulator working in our national interest.

Two weeks ago, India became the latest country to announce it will ban paraquat, shrinking Syngenta's market and isolating Australia's position even further.

➡️ We are realistic that there's much more to do.

Syngenta's exit does NOT take paraquat off Australian shelves. Generic paraquat products will still be available - and will keep exacting a severe cost on human health and our environment.

In our model, polluters don't pay for the harm they cause. Australians do. 🇦🇺

Paraquat is banned in more than 70 countries. It's been prohibited in the EU and UK for almost 2 decades. ⛔

Yet the Australian Government and its industry-funded regulator, the APVMA, still maintain that approved paraquat use doesn't increase the risk of Parkinson's disease - citing a Syngenta-funded study to back that position.

Australia's leading independent neurologists say otherwise. They point to a global scientific consensus and multiple real-world studies showing paraquat raises the risk of Parkinson's by roughly threefold. 🧠

❔ When the regulator and the science diverge this sharply, the public is entitled to ask: who is our industry-funded regulator really working for?

Public pressure is building. Consumers, farmers and health advocates are calling for change - and our voices are being heard.

Keep it up!

Parkinson's Australia Pesticide Action Network UK PAN Europe (Pesticide Action Network)

15/07/2026

You can't wash this one off 🍓

Isocycloseram is a pesticide - a 'forever chemical'.

Berries are making headlines today, but is already being sprayed on a range of produce in this country.

📈 And now the Australian Government is proposing to increase the amount of residue allowed on berries - by up to 500 times.

👶 Children are heavy consumers of berries. Forever chemicals shouldn't be on their food - and parents shouldn't have to worry about that.

🚫 We need to be getting PFAS out of the food chain - not increasing the amounts allowed.

Our position is simple: the safety of this chemical has not been properly considered.

🚫 It's not approved in the EU or UK, and it's subject to legal challenge in the US over risks to children and unborn babies.

Australia was one of the first countries in the world to approve it - leaning on research from the company that makes it and profits from selling it.

🔬 Our industry-funded pesticide regulator, the APVMA, is relying on animal studies sponsored by the manufacturer, Syngenta. And even those studies found that isocycloseram reduced testicle size, lowered s***m counts, and harmed the liver.

🇦🇺 Australian health, and Australian produce, shouldn't be the human experiment the rest of the world learns from.

We're asking for one thing: the same precautions already being taken elsewhere.

📰 Read more via: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and on our website.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-plan-to-allow-500-times-more-forever-chemical-residue-on-australian-berries-20260713-p60ezl.html

09/07/2026

Imagine driving downhill when your accelerator jams - and then the brakes fail too.

That's, in effect, what a newer insecticide called does to an insect's nervous system. It jams the nerves' off switch, so they keep firing until the insect is paralysed and dies. More technically, it targets the GABA-gated chloride channel - the gate that normally lets a nerve calm down after it fires.

👉 Humans share the same GABA gate system.

What do you need to know about isocycloseram?

1️⃣ The Australian Government was one of the first in the world to approve it.

2️⃣ It's made by Syngenta - the same manufacturer behind , facing thousands of lawsuits alleging the company knew of links to Parkinson's disease and concealed them.

3️⃣ Isocycloseram is a , or 'forever chemical'. It breaks down over decades into TFA, which a European Chemicals Agency scientific committee concluded should be classified as toxic to reproduction (may harm the unborn child; suspected of damaging fertility).

4️⃣ In manufacturer-sponsored animal studies, regulators reported reduced testicle size, lower s***m counts, and liver harm.

Why are we talking about this now?

📈 Our regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, is proposing to sharply increase (by 70-500 fold!) how much of this pesticide residue is allowed on berries.

The berries our toddlers can't get enough of. The ones marketed as health food, so people eat more of them.

It's berries in the headline this time, but isocycloseram is already being sprayed on a range of produce around the country.

What can you do?

👉 Make a brief submission to the APVMA:
Public submissions are currently being reviewed and close on 14 July 2026. See page 52 for how and where to send your submission -https://www.apvma.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-06/Gazette%20No%2012%2C%20Tuesday%2016%20June%202026.pdf

As many of you already know - or learned through the paraquat decision - writing submissions only works when a Government regulator is willing to listen. So a submission is a start, but it isn't enough.

📣 Share this information, tell your MP, your local paper and your supermarket where you stand.

23/06/2026

The APVMA's decision on paraquat is a call to action. 📣

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has finalised its near 30-year review of paraquat and chosen to allow its continued use in Australia.

This is a herbicide already banned in more than 70 countries. The companies that manufacture and export paraquat have had it banned in their own countries. They continue to profit from the harm it causes here.

The human cost of this decision will be severe.

The regulator and our government have missed an opportunity to protect the well-being of Australians and our environment, and to slow the rise of Parkinson's disease in Australia.

The APVMA's view - that the weight of evidence does not show paraquat exposure 'through approved uses' increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease - stands in stark contrast to the submissions of Australia's leading neurologists and global experts.

Over 70 countries, and the US state of Vermont, reviewed the same evidence and chose to ban it, finding no possible safe use of this dangerous chemical.

The way this decision was made is as disturbing as the decision itself.

❌ Failing to meet with Australia's top public health experts and neurologists who called for a ban shows how our industry-funded regulator continues to put corporate profits ahead of public health and the national interest.

This decision endangers farmers and their families, rural communities and the wider public - as we will all continue to be exposed through ongoing low-level doses in our food, water and air. The new 'restrictions' simply push the risk back onto farmers.

📣 This is a call to action for all Australians.

We are calling for:
1️⃣ This decision to be urgently reviewed and paraquat ultimately banned
2️⃣ Financial support for farmers to transition away from harmful chemical dependency
3️⃣ Compensation and support for agricultural workers who develop Parkinson's disease after pesticide exposure, as already happens in other countries
4️⃣ Reform of our regulatory system that is repeatedly failing Australians and our environment. The precautionary principle must be applied and a hazard-based regulatory approach taken.

➡️ Read the APVMA's decision here:

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has published its final decisions on the extensive chemical reviews (the revi

18/06/2026

🌱 A win worth celebrating - and replicating.

City of Kingston in Victoria has voted to phase out glyphosate-based herbicides on Council-owned and managed land by 1 January 2027.

It's a decision that puts community health and the environment ahead of operational convenience.

We congratulate Cr Georgia Erevnidis, Mayor Cr Georgina Oxley and every councillor who backed the motion. We have offered to support Kingston's practical and lasting transition to safer, sustainable alternatives.

Cr Erevnidis led the motion with a speech that cut through the usual chemical-dependency arguments. She questioned why a council report into w**d control measures success almost entirely through operational metrics, asking "where are the measures for biodiversity improvement, environmental resilience, reduced chemical exposure, or community confidence in safer public spaces?"

📽️ You can find Cr Erevnidis's speech here: https://stream.kingston.vic.gov.au/archive/video26-0525.php (from 1.26.45).

The vote was close: five in favour, four against, one abstention.

A margin that tight is exactly why community pressure matters.

👉 Celebrate and replicate.

Here's how to start the campaign in your council:

1️⃣ Find an ally - a councillor who champions health and the environment.
2️⃣ Ask them to move a motion. We've got a template ready to go (see comments).
3️⃣ Reach out - we offer free resources, advice and transition support. 📩 [email protected]

08/06/2026

Pesticides and MND: Fight the causes.

❄️ Today, the first Big Freeze event at the MCG since the death of AFL legend and MND campaigner, Neale Daniher, has brought the disease back into the spotlight.

Over the past 30 years, deaths from MND in Australia have risen by more than 250%. Australia's use of pesticides, by volume and toxicity, has also grown considerably during this time. 📈

There is no cure for MND. There is no treatment that can stop it. And yet, the evidence pointing to a causal factor keeps mounting - 'Insecticides are chemicals that are designed to kill motor neurons.'

Professor Dominic Rowe AM, Professor of Neurology at Macquarie University has found clear geographic differences in MND incidence in Australia, with mortality in 2019-2023 'significantly higher in regional areas compared to major cities'.

According to Professor Rowe: 'Higher MND mortality in regional areas compared to cities suggests that people living or working in regional areas might be exposed to risk factors that their city-dwelling counterparts don’t encounter.

➡️ The regional differences mirror my clinical observation over many decades – in my opinion, environmental factors are the cause of the increasing number of MND cases.'

Professor Rowe has pointed specifically to insecticides: 'Australian agriculture used half a billion dollars’ worth of insecticides last year. Insecticides are chemicals that are designed to kill motor neurons.'

'Our hypothesis is that it's to do with the co-location of the population and agriculture,' Professor Rowe said.

'If you look at South Australia, most of the population is tucked down into the southeast corner and that is exactly where all their intense viticulture is.'

'Similarly, in Tasmania, it's the orchard industry.'

As with Parkinson's disease, increasing incidence of MND is not something we need to accept.

Prevention is always better than a cure. And prevention is the only tool we have. MND cannot be reversed. Once it starts, it doesn't stop.

With new and dangerous pesticides being released into Australia every year, it's not going to stop without action taken on the causes.

The Daniher family grew up on a sheep and wheat farm at Ungarie, in a broadacre cropping region of Central West NSW known for heavy pesticide use. Epidemiology can’t establish individual causation, but the pattern sits him squarely in the highest-risk demographic.

So, the next time you see someone wearing a Big Freeze beanie, have a chat with them about pesticides.

➡️ https://www.therural.com.au/story/9209798/the-horrific-disease-hitting-regional-aussies-hardest/




MND Australia
Macquarie University

28/05/2026

It's time Australia added pesticides to the PFAS conversation.

When we hear PFAS, we think of non-stick frying pans and firefighting foam.

But there’s another major source of PFAS entering our environment that receives almost no public or media attention.

➡️ PFAS pesticides aka forever pesticides.

They are sprayed across millions of hectares of Australian farmland, urban parks, and nature reserves every single year.

They don't just harm us, they threaten future generations too.

Local councils around Australia are a significant and preventable source of PFAS pollution, yet in many instances applicators, management and Councillors may not know that pesticides they are spraying are PFAS.

So, what can we do? 👇

✉️ Speak with your council. Call or send this draft letter. You can download it from our homepage ➡️ https://pesticideaction.org.au/

One council going PFAS pesticide-free doesn't just protect one community. It shows every other council in Australia how to do the same. It inserts pesticides into the national PFAS conversation and is an example of leadership to be celebrated. 👏

There’s a lot more to this story, and you’ll find more in the letter itself.

Local Government NSW
Municipal Association of Victoria
Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ)
Local Government Association of South Australia
WALGA
Local Government Association of Tasmania
Local Government Association of NT

04/03/2026

📢 A WIN WITH A WARNING: Syngenta to stop making paraquat amid thousands of Parkinson’s Disease lawsuits in the US.

This is a win for everyone who has raised their voice about the harm. This is an important win for collective over corporate power.

⚠️ However, Syngenta's exit is also a warning. The move should spark worldwide bans before other producers fill the void. Australia still authorises the use of paraquat despite bans in 70+ countries.

Our industry-captured regulator, the APVMA, continues to profit giant, foreign-owned companies at the expense of our farmers, rural communities, consumers and environment.

⚠️ Syngenta ending paraquat production is only a true win when we heed the inherent warnings:

1️⃣ to ban the use of paraquat to force an end to all production,

2️⃣ to refuse regrettable substitutions (replacing one harmful chemical with another),

3️⃣ to call for a publicly-funded regulator that works in Australia's national interest, not for corporate profit.

Nobody truly wins when we replace one source of harm for another.

Syngenta, maker of a controversial pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease, said on Tuesday that it will stop making its paraquat w**d killer by the end of June.

22/08/2025

It's hard to believe, but many blueberry muffins or berry smoothies sold in Australia would be illegal in at least 38 other countries.

Why? Dimethoate.

This neurotoxic, endocrine disrupting chemical, which is banned in 38 countries, is approved for spraying on berries in Australia just 24 hours before they are picked and taken to market.

Other internationally-banned neurotoxic pesticides are also approved by the APVMA to be sprayed on Australian berries.

These approvals severely threaten our farmers, pickers and children (as key consumers), as well as Australia's global reputation in the export market.

What can we do about it?
1️⃣ Protect yourself and loved ones by making informed consumer decisions;
2️⃣ Support farmers transition to practices that protect our health and environment;
3️⃣ Share concerns with supermarkets, as well as local, state and federal parliamentarians;
4️⃣ Feed into the APVMA's public consultation process on dimethoate ➡️ https://www.apvma.gov.au/news-and-publications/public-consultations/proposed-suspension-of-dimethoate-products;
5️⃣ Share the information widely through your networks.

See PAA's submission to the APVMA on dimethoate here on our website ⬇️
https://pesticideaction.org.au/our-statements/

05/06/2025

Once, bogong moths (deberra in Taungurung language) were so plentiful that swarms could "block out the moon" and meteorologists could mistake them for rain. 🌑

Today, following a rapid 99.5% population decline, their loss threatens entire alpine ecosystems and the critically endangered mountain pygmy possum.

➡️ A key contributor to their decline is .

Our Government recognises that:
1️⃣ pesticides are a source of pollution driving change and
2️⃣ Australia has one of the highest extinction rates in the world.

It has also set ambitious 2030 zero new extinctions and pollution reduction targets as part of its Strategy for Nature and commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework. ✅

➡️ Targets and commitments are great, but what we need is action.

Actions can start small, individual bogong moth small, like going pesticide-free at home. 🌿

Then, there is so much we can do collectively, as a swarm, to make a big difference. Check out our website to find out more ➡️ https://pesticideaction.org.au/takeaction/

🔎 If you see a bogong moth, upload a photo to the moth tracker! https://www.zoo.org.au/moth-tracker/

Visit the post for more.