International Movement of Biocides Regulation

Biocides의 국제적 규제동향

Biocides, or non-agricultural pesticides, are a broad class of chemical. They are including biological agents used to disinfect/sanitize, pesticides for non-agricultural use, wood preservatives, antifoulants, etc. Since the early 1980s, many adverse effects of biocides to human health and ecosystem have been found in the world. Especially, antifouling biocide like TBT caused serious toxic effects on the marine organisms. Therefore, OECD began to work on biocides in mid 1996 to help Member countries co-operate in the assessment and registration of these products. EU also announced the Biocidal Products Directive (BPD, 98/8/EC) in 1998 to harmonize regulatory approaches to allow EU countries to conduct evaluations of biocides more efficiently. Korea just start to consider of biocides regulation. Some biocides products are regulated, but not all the biocides which are using in Korea. Therefore, we need to make a appropriate regulation for the all biocides categories. In addition, there are necessary to develop risk assessment tools, to survey the use pattern and amount, to research on the ecosystem contamination by the biocides .