Taiwan Academics slam end of pesticide ban for U.S. fruit

Taiwan's March decision to allow the presence of the pesticide endosulfan in apples was likely to have resulted in the import of tainted fruit, academics said yesterday. Endosulfan is an extremely toxic substance which has been banned in several countries, including the European Union, though is still widely in use in others, including India. The pesticide is believed to cause miscarriage and damage to the immune system. On March 29, the Department of Health ended a complete ban on the pesticide to allow a maximum limit of 0.05 parts per million. In February, before the change, two batches of apples from the United States were refused entry to Taiwan because they failed pesticide tests. In March, six batches were stopped, including two that showed endosulfan levels between 0.02 and 0.04 ppm, said Sun Lih-chyun, professor at... [read full story]                    

powered by