日本語
Database183 active ingredientsChecked 2026-10-01

Pesticide database

Pesticide active ingredients, grouped by use (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and more) and chemical class. For each one we show its registration, toxicity class and ADI in Japan, how often it was detected in national testing, and evaluations by WHO, the EU and IARC. We do not judge whether anything is good or bad.

Pesticides in Japan, by the numbers

  • 506 registered active ingredients and 3,741 formulated products (as of Sept. 30, 2026)
  • 90.5% of formulated products are “ordinary substances” (neither poisonous nor deleterious substances)
  • Share of national tests over the limit: domestic produce 0.001%, imported 0.022% (fiscal 2024)

Used in Japan, but not approved in the EU

  • 76 ingredients in this database (e.g. dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid)
  • Dinotefuran, the most frequently detected in domestic produce, has never been submitted for approval in the EU

Common questions, explained

Only what public sources show

Pesticide-free?Why vegetables cannot be labeled “pesticide-free” in Japan, and how to read the labels used insteadReduced pesticideWhat the “○% less than local practice” on specially cultivated produce actually countsPesticides by cropPesticides are registered crop by crop, and the types and number of uses allowed differToxicity rankingsWHO acute toxicity, Japan’s ADI and IARC classification, ranked by each yardstickGrowing without pesticides?In plots without pesticides, yields fell by anywhere from 20% to total loss, depending on the cropDoes washing help?Rinsing under running water, peeling, boiling: how much each reduces residues, from measurementsHow limits are setHow limits are derived from the ADI, and how much people take in from everyday mealsEffects on ecosystemsNeonicotinoids and honeybee losses; studies on wild bees, dragonflies, birds and lake fish; the history of DDT and PCPIs Japan a heavy user?Use per hectare of cropland compared internationally, and trends in Japan’s shipments

Post-harvest pesticides and imported foods →

By chemical class

Click a name for its full page

Insecticides

Kill insects or stop them from multiplying

Neonicotinoids7

Bind to the receptors in insect nerves (nicotinic acetylcholine receptors). Many are taken up through roots or leaves and spread through the whole crop (systemic)

Organophosphates16

Block the action of the enzyme that stops nerve signals (acetylcholinesterase). Used for a long time

Carbamates7

Like organophosphates, they block the action of acetylcholinesterase

Pyrethroids8

Developed from a component of pyrethrum flowers (pyrethrin). They act on the sodium channels of nerves

Diamides3

Act on the receptors in insect muscles (ryanodine receptors). A relatively new class

Macrolides and spinosyns5

Insecticides based on substances made by soil microorganisms (spinosad, emamectin benzoate and others)

Insect growth regulators (IGRs)6

Disrupt the way insects grow, such as molting and metamorphosis

Acaricides7

Control mites such as spider mites

Other insecticides12

Classes that fit none of the above (phenylpyrazoles, pyridine azomethines and others)

Natural and microbial products (including those allowed under organic JAS)5

BT products (proteins made by bacteria), pyrethrum extracts, machine oil, starch and others

Organochlorines (banned or expired)8

DDT, BHC, drins and others. Because they hardly break down and remain in the body and the environment, they stopped being used in Japan in the 1970s

Fungicides

Prevent crop diseases caused by molds and bacteria

Strobilurins (QoI)5

Stop the respiration of fungi (the mitochondrial electron transport chain). Developed from a component of mushrooms

Azoles (DMI)9

Stop fungi from making a component of their cell membranes (ergosterol)

SDHI7

Stop another step of fungal respiration (succinate dehydrogenase)

Benzimidazoles2

Stop fungal cell division

Dicarboximides and others6

Classes used against gray mold and similar diseases (procymidone, iprodione, fludioxonil and others)

Multi-site fungicides7

Act on many sites in fungal cells. Resistance is slow to develop (mancozeb, TPN, captan and others)

Copper, sulfur and others (including those allowed under organic JAS)3

Inorganic fungicides used since long ago. Copper products, sulfur products, sodium bicarbonate and others

Fungicides for rice blast and other rice diseases8

Used against rice blast, sheath blight and other rice diseases (some stop melanin synthesis, some strengthen the rice plant's own resistance)

Other fungicides7

Classes that fit none of the above, such as those for downy mildew and late blight

Herbicides

Kill weeds or stop them from growing

Stop amino acid production (glyphosate and others)5

Stop a mechanism for making amino acids that only plants have. Glyphosate, glufosinate, sulfonylureas and others

Bipyridyliums (paraquat, diquat)2

Make reactive oxygen during photosynthesis and quickly kill the green parts

Hormone-type (2,4-D, MCPA and others)4

Act like the plant growth hormone auxin, making broadleaf weeds grow abnormally until they die

Stop cell division (soil-applied herbicides)7

Stop the roots and shoots of newly sprouted weeds from growing. Applied to the soil of paddies and fields

Stop photosynthesis6

Stop part of the photosynthesis mechanism (bentazone, DCMU and others)

Other herbicides5

Classes that fit none of the above

Fumigants and soil disinfectants

Used as a gas to control pests and pathogens in soil, warehouses and imported goods

Soil disinfectants4

Spread gas through the soil before planting to reduce nematodes and pathogens

Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantine3

Control pests in stored grain and imported farm products

Postharvest fungicides

Used on citrus fruits, bananas and other produce after harvest to prevent mold during storage and transport. Treated as food additives in Japan

Postharvest fungicides (food additives in Japan)5

Imazalil, thiabendazole (TBZ), ortho-phenylphenol (OPP) and others. Labeling is required at the point of sale

Plant growth regulators

Adjust how crops grow, how they ripen, how they set fruit and so on

Plant growth regulators4

Gibberellin (for seedless grapes), ethephon (to speed up ripening) and others

Label on the right: for ingredients registered in Japan, their EU status; for others, their status in Japan (such as the year registration expired). WHO is the acute toxicity class (Ia is the strongest), ADI is in mg/kg body weight/day, IARC is the carcinogenicity classification.

Most often detected in national testing

MHLW, results of pesticide residue testing in foods, fiscal 2024, Tables 3 and 4

Diagram explaining the difference between “detected” and “over the limit”. The detection rate is the share of tests for that pesticide in which any amount was detected; for example, dinotefuran was detected in 169 of 1,327 tests of domestic produce, or 12.7%. It does not mean the limit was exceeded. The share over the limit (MHLW, fiscal 2024) was 0.001% for domestic produce (about 1.09 million tests) and 0.022% for imported produce (about 660,000 tests). The amounts behind the limits: the ADI (acceptable daily intake) is the amount considered to have no effect on health even if eaten every day for a lifetime; the ARfD (acute reference dose) is the amount considered to have no effect when eaten at one time (within 24 hours). Some pesticides detected within Japan's limits cannot be used in the EU (such as dinotefuran, the most frequently detected in domestic produce). Reasons for non-approval include effects on the environment such as bees, and do not mean that food containing it immediately harms health.
“Detection rate” vs. “share over the limit” in residue testing, and the amounts behind the limits

Domestic produce (Table 3)

PesticideDetected / testedDetection rate
Dinotefuran169 / 1,32712.7%
Carbendazim group (incl. thiophanate-methyl, benomyl)13 / 1538.5%
Flonicamid18 / 3595.0%
Clothianidin147 / 2,9854.9%
Acetamiprid121 / 2,7464.4%
pyflubumide6 / 1424.2%
Boscalid136 / 3,4573.9%
Flubendiamide22 / 7223.0%
Penthiopyrad20 / 6693.0%
Chlorfenapyr120 / 4,1182.9%

Imported produce (Table 4). Post-harvest fungicides and fumigants rank high

PesticideDetected / testedDetection rate
Imazalil240 / 1,22419.6%
Fludioxonil194 / 1,43913.5%
Thiabendazole184 / 1,43212.8%
Bromine (e.g. from methyl bromide)16 / 12812.5%
Azoxystrobin467 / 4,00011.7%
Pyraclostrobin321 / 4,3337.4%
Arsenic12 / 1717.0%
Lead12 / 1727.0%
Boscalid260 / 4,4425.8%
Pyrimethanil262 / 4,9015.3%

The detection rate is the share of tests for that pesticide in which any amount was detected (including below 0.01 ppm). It does not mean the limit was exceeded. Arsenic and lead in the imported table are not pesticides, but are tested in the same program.

What was found in imported vegetables

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, residue testing of imported produce, fiscal 2022–2023

Onion

Fresh (China)
Thiamethoxam

Over the limit: Thiamethoxam at 0.04 ppm (limit 0.02 ppm) exceeded the limit (fiscal 2023).

Red labels mark pesticides not approved in the EU. A vegetable-by-vegetable breakdown for domestic produce was not published in the public sources we checked.

Pesticides registered in Japan are approved by the government with set crops, amounts, numbers of applications and days before harvest. Not being approved in the EU does not mean that food containing the pesticide immediately harms health (reasons for non-approval include effects on the environment such as bees). We list differences between public bodies' evaluations as information for your own judgment.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-01. Registrations and evaluations change over time. These pages are translations of our Japanese pesticide database.