The Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) approved the use of the germ inhibitor 1,4SIGHT on December 17, 2020. The approval of the germ inhibitor ARGOS is still on hold. In Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, one of the plant protection products probably caused major fires.
Update: 1,4Sight approved again
The BVL has revoked the suspension of the approval of the germ inhibitor 1,4SIGHT. This means that the product can be sold again and used in the potato warehouse.
However, there are now requirements for use. It is forbidden to use it if the hot atomizer is powered by a combustion engine. Instead, farmers are supposed to use electrically powered devices.
The approval of the drug ARGOS is still on hold.
As of December 4th
In a notification, the BVL indicates the immediate effect of the order. The two pesticides have not been allowed to be placed on the market or used since Friday. Associated plant protection products in parallel trade are also affected.
ARGOS is on the market under the approval number 008950-00 and has been approved since October 29, 2020. The germ inhibitor works on an orange oil basis.
1,4SIGHT has the approval number 008692-00 and has been approved since March 16, 2018 . The active ingredient is 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene.
Warehouses completely burned out
In both federal states – in Saxony-Anhalt in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district, in Bavaria in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district – the fires occurred in potato warehouses. According to BVL, the warehouses are completely burned out, with property damage amounting to millions in each case.
According to previous knowledge, the hot fogging with ARGOS or with 1,4SIGHT caused the fires. It cannot be ruled out that the devices used were not suitable for hot fogging.
Only when the facts have been clarified could the two plant protection products be approved again. If necessary, the approval conditions would have to be adjusted so that safe use is proven to be possible, the BVL announced. Until then, users, residents and other people would have to be protected.
The suitability of the hot fogging devices must be checked
It may no longer be possible to work with hot mist devices that were suitable for other crop protection agents when using ARGOS and / or 1,4SIGHT. The BVL now checks whether the necessary devices are available and the information on the label and the instructions for use is sufficient.
Both ARGOS and 1,4SIGHT regulate the growth of the stored potatoes by means of hot or cold misting.
