File and legal actions: Maître Corinne Lepage
Scientific dossier: Dr Joël Spiroux de Vendômois
The duly empowered CRIIGEN filed a petition on March 31, 2023, against the re-authorization of the ANSES decision concerning the application for extension of major uses of the herbicide CHARDOL 600 (AMM n°9100296) dated December 14, 2022 and published on February 1, 2023.
The scientific dossier was produced by Dr J. Spiroux, Chairman of CRIIGEN.
CHARDOL 600 is a herbicide for professional use " based on 600 g/L of 2,4-D acid equivalent, in the form of a soluble concentrate (SL), applied by spraying ", produced and marketed by NUPHARM SAS and initially intended " for weed control in cherry, apple, pear, quince and nashi orchards ".
2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), the active ingredient in CHARDOL 600, was synthesized in 1941 and used by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971 as a defoliant in combination with 2-4-5T under the name " Agent Orange", and was responsible for the development of illnesses in soldiers who sprayed it, illnesses in people who came into contact with the substance, and environmental damage.
As with all pesticides, the precise composition of Chardol 600 is confidential. Nonetheless, on the international scene, the product does not meet with unanimous approval in view of its environmental and health effects.
In fact, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Quebec, whose authorities consider it to be an endocrine disruptor, have banned the marketing of this substance.
The Institut national de la santé de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) points out, in a collective expertise entitled Pesticides et effets sur la santé - Nouvelles données published in 2021 (production n°11), that associations have been identified between the substance 2,4-D and :
- non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
- bladder cancer,
- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
- sarcomas,
- hypothyroidism,
- altered respiratory health and, more specifically, the development of asthma,
- involvement in oxidative stress and immunomodulation
In France, we seem to be struggling to draw the necessary conclusions from the toxicity and dangerousness of 2,4-D, which is also the active molecule in 6 herbicides, including Chardol 600, for which an extension of use was published on February 1, 2023, and consequently in 5 other herbicides which, according to ANSES decisions, are only different trade names from Chardol 600:
- U600D , U46 Pro, U600 pro, Dicopur 600, Spécial Liserons Chardons EV. All produced by NUFARM.
All the above herbicides are composed of the declared active molecule 2,4-D at the same concentration of 2-4,D (600g/l for the various herbicides mentioned above), to which are added co-formulants of unknown nature.
In its initial response, Nufarm assured us that Chardol 600 did not contain any coformulants.
On the strength of this assertion, we purchased Chardol 600 and had it analyzed by an expert court chemist. The discovery was a major one, as we found an organochlorine compound representing 21.466% of the Chardol 600 product.
A hidden coformulant does exist in Chardol 600, contradicting Nufarm's claim: " There are no coformulants in Chardol 600 "!
We are awaiting answers from Anses and Nufarm...