17/04/2026
Australia’s highest-volume pesticides widely used in agriculture are banned in other parts of the world, according to a new study led by .
Researchers from Griffith’s School of Environment and Science analysed 45 pesticide products used in volumes of more than 100 tonnes per year, identified through the Australian Government’s now archived Agricultural Chemical Usage Database.
The findings were stark: 60 per cent of Australia’s high-use pesticides were now banned in the European Union.
A further 24 per cent were approved in Europe but banned in at least one other country, and just 16 per cent retained full international approval.
“These findings set Australia apart from the rest of the world and raise questions about how our chemical regulatory frameworks and pesticide-use patterns differ from the rest of the world,” said co-lead author Professor Susan Bengtson Nash.
“The continued use of pesticides banned overseas places Australia increasingly out of step with leading international chemical policy reform and may complicate trade, particularly given that more than 70 per cent of Australia’s primary produce, worth nearly $80 billion annually, is exported.”
Read the full report here
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c15716?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAb21jcARMNqNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAadCMfdmDdk63-1rbEpLVzCE_U8MTvuYjoKp0ctyC4Iu5EQA_n4rGzpUwnw67A_aem_ghnI3rvxv9RtCI_NTmVdKQ
