Part 1
A POISON which Australians commonly apply in powder on their pets and dust or spray in their gardens to control fleas, ticks, caterpillars and aphids is still freely available in Sydney shops even though the pesticides watchdog banned it this year over concerns it can endanger human health.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority cancelled registrations of 17 flea powders, tomato dusts and liquid insecticides containing the chemical carbaryl in January. But it allowed existing stock to remain on sale without telling the public about the risks, except in a complicated report on its own website.
In visits to a Sydney supermarket, garden shop, hardware store and pet shop, the Herald was able to buy six of the products - a liquid insecticide, a tomato dust, a tomato spray and three flea powders.
They carried no warning of the authority's finding that - even when following the instructions for use - they could be "harmful to human beings" and may pose hazards to people handling them or "using anything containing their residues".
Despite its concerns about carbaryl, the authority has not recalled the products of concern, only forbidding further manufacture or supply.
Nor have people with carbaryl products in their homes been warned. Asked how the authority had alerted the public to the risk, its public affairs manager, Simon Cubit, said it had told "stakeholders", briefed ministers and notified its own community consultative committee.
Each carbaryl product the Herald found on sale was still advertised on its manufacturer's website without any mention of the authority's findings. Meanwhile, farmers continue to use carbaryl and the authority could not say when it will finish its review of agricultural uses of the chemical.
Carbaryl has been found to produce cancer-causing genes in experimental animals and was banned in British domestic gardens 11 years ago, with all other uses phased out nine years ago.
The US Environment Protection Agency has classed the chemical as a likely human carcinogen and cancelled its use on pets, except for flea collars.
Australia's pesticides watchdog only took action to curb its domestic use for pets and gardens after the federal auditor reported in December that its review of the poison, begun 13 years ago, was still incomplete.
Eight years ago, the authority's toxicology review revealed that it was possible people using carbaryl products could be affected by excessive exposure. An inquiry began into whether home gardeners and pet owners may be at risk.
