Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5.7.2 Past registration and current use of carbofuran in Croatia
Unfortunately, it is not simple to establish exactly when carbofuran was fi rst used in Croatia, or to
identify those holding such information. Neither the relevant Government Ministry nor the Plant
Research Institute knew the answer to this question. Regardless of this, to comply with EU standards
(substances not present in Annex I of EU Directive 91/414/EEC), Croatia essentially began to ban
the use of carbofuran in 2007. Before this, its primary use was for plant protection against pests. The
formulation Geocid 350-F was used to eliminate
Agriotes spp
. (a type of beetle) in corn, except if
the corn was destined for animal feed. It was also used on sugar cane during seeding, and to reduce
maize leaf weevil (
Tanymecus dilaticolis
) and sugarbeet fl ea beetle (
Chaetocnema tibialis
). Geocid
G-5 was used on soil borne insects during seeding of corn, sugar cane and sunfl ower. It was also used
on tobacco pests and for potato protection. Geocid ST-35 was used as a concentrated suspension on
sugar cane seeds, and on corn and sunfl ower to eliminate soil pests.
Most carbofuran formulations were banned in Croatia on 31 December 2007. However, its
sale and storage was allowed for the following 18 months, with a fi nal ban becoming effective on
31 June 2009. Geocid can still be sold until 2016 in a liquid form, but the granulated form (G-5)
is now banned completely. Table 5.6 shows the formulations that were available before the ban.
Chromos Agro is a Croatian producer of Geocid. Arysta Life Sciences, the producer of Siux, is a
foreign producer, with headquarters in Japan.
5.7.3 The use of carbofuran as a poison in relation to other compounds
in Croatia
The fi rst signifi cant incident of multiple case wildlife poisoning with carbofuran was documented
for Eurasian griffon vultures (see Figures 5.15 and 5.16). On 17 December 2004, on the Island of
Rab, ten dead griffon vultures (six adults, two subadults and two juveniles) were found. One adult
was barely alive, and in a very bad state (Figure 5.17). This griffon was taken to the Recovery
Centre, but died two days later. All dead birds were taken to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
at the University of Zagreb. The assumption after autopsy was that the birds had been poisoned,
since the griffons were in good body condition and no ammunition was found in their bodies on
X-ray. This incident is recounted in Pavokovic and SuĊĦic (2005).
Although the issue of illegal poisoning had been raised since 2001, this was the fi rst known
incident of multiple case poisoning. A media campaign followed, which prompted police to begin a
serious investigation. Before this incident, the police were generally dismissive of wildlife poison-
ing cases. The incident was covered by prime time TV news, which helped ensure the investigation
continued. Police searched the area where the griffons had been poisoned, and found six more grif-
fons in addition to a dead sheep and two dead buzzards. The sheep, buzzards and griffons were all
discovered within 200 metres of the fi rst group of birds. In total, two buzzards and 17 griffons were
Table 5.6
Formulations of carbofuran products available in Croatia before the EU-wide ban
Allowed sale of
products to
producers
Allowed sale
and usage to the
fi nal users up to
Registration
validation up to
Formulation
Producer
Representative
GEOCID 350 FL
Chromos Agro
Chromos Agro
09/12/2007
31/06/2008
31/06/2009
GEOCID G-5
Chromos Agro
Chromos Agro
09/05/2008
31/06/2008
31/06/2009
GEOCID ST-35
Chromos Agro
Chromos Agro
13/03/2007
31/06/2008
31/06/2009
SIUX 5 % (MG)
Arysta
Hed
16/02/2016
31/06/2008
31/06/2009
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