Crops have pests and diseases, and pesticides need to be used to control them. However, when they hear the word pesticide, some people will worry about whether the vegetables and fruits that have been used with pesticides are unsafe. In fact, to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products, it has begun from the "birth" of pesticide products. This is the pesticide registration system implemented by the state, and in addition to ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural products and people's health, this system also protects the safety of crop production and the safety of the ecological environment.
The mainland implements a pesticide registration system, and unregistered pesticides are not allowed to be used, but what is pesticide registration, why do you need to register pesticides, and what kind of pesticide products can be approved for production, sales and use? How exactly does pesticide registration protect us?
Generally speaking, pesticide registration is based on a set of systematic scientific experiments to evaluate the effectiveness and safety.
The first level
This set of tests is first and foremost a product chemistry test. As the name suggests, it is to conduct tests on the chemical properties of products. It is necessary to clarify what is in the pesticide product, what method can be used to accurately detect the components that make up the pesticide product, and how many components are in this product. It is also necessary to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of these components, such as whether they are corrosive, whether they will explode, under what conditions they are more stable when stored, and whether they can maintain uniformity. It is also necessary to provide the quality standards of pesticide products, that is, what are the requirements of the various indicators of the product, and how to carry out the measurement, so as to ensure that qualified products can be obtained in production.
The second level
The next step is the efficacy test, which is to test and evaluate the use effect of this pesticide product, and how effective it is to control specific pests and diseases on a certain crop. Will there be pesticide damage in the process of use, and will there be resistance to the prevention and control object after use.
The third level
There is also a pesticide residue test, that is, after the pesticide is used on the crop, under the specified number of times and dosage, how many pesticide parents and metabolites remain in the agricultural products, and risk assessment is also carried out to ensure that the agricultural products after people eat and use the pesticide for a long time are still healthy and safe.
Level 4
The fourth group of tests is toxicology tests, through scientific animal tests, to evaluate the toxicity of pesticide products such as oral, perdermal, inhalation, eye irritation, etc., whether there is neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity, whether there is endocrine interference, whether it will cause cancer and teratogenic mutations, etc. It is also necessary to evaluate the risk of human exposure to the pesticide application environment during pesticide use.
Level 5
Finally, there is the environmental impact test, which needs to evaluate the dissipation of pesticide products in the soil, water and other environments after use, and whether there will be harm to beneficial organisms such as bees, birds, fish, and silkworms.
Registration will only be granted if the above-mentioned scientific tests are completed in accordance with the regulations and the test results meet the requirements after evaluation. These experimental sciences are equivalent to the "prenatal examination" of pesticide products, and only when they are safe can they be successfully "born".
According to the data on May 9, 2024, there are 181 pesticide registration test units with valid qualifications in the country, and 20 pesticide registration test units with valid qualifications in Beijing, accounting for 11% of the national total. Beijing organizes full-coverage inspection and guidance for all test units in Beijing every year, strictly requires them to ensure the authenticity and traceability of test data, continuously improves the standardization and scientificity of the test, and does a good job in the "scientific inspection" before pesticide registration and marketing.
Contributed by: Wu Di, Beijing Plant Protection Station
Editor: Nong Xiaoli