Dicamba ジカンバ

In Japan

Registration

Registered as a pesticide (first registered April 30, 1965). 14 formulated products contain it.

Main registered crops

trees and similar, Japanese lawn grass, Western lawn grass, forage grass, turfgrass, forest trees and others (6 crop names in the registered uses)

Toxicity class

Active ingredient: MDBA: Ordinary / MDBA potassium salt: Ordinary / MDBA dimethylamine: Ordinary

Classes of the 14 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 14

Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.

ADI (acceptable daily intake)

0.3 mg per kg of body weight per day

ARfD (acute reference dose)

not evaluated

Evaluation

Food Safety Commission of Japan, October 29, 2012

ADI: the amount considered to have no effect on health even if eaten every day for a lifetime. ARfD: the amount considered to have no effect on health when eaten at one time (within 24 hours). Both are set by the Food Safety Commission of Japan, mainly from animal studies.

Evaluations abroad

WHO acute toxicity class

II (Moderately hazardous), LD50 1707 mg/kg

Based on the toxicity of the undiluted active ingredient given once, mainly to rats by mouth (LD50 = the dose that kills half; the smaller, the stronger the acute toxicity). It is not an assessment of the safety of residues in food.

EU

Approved in the EU (approval expires March 2027)

EU ADI: 0.3 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.3 mg/kg bw

IARC (carcinogenicity)

No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)

Related explainers

• Most and least toxic pesticides, ranked (acute toxicity, ADI, carcinogenicity)
• How are maximum residue limits set? Japan’s positive list system and how much we actually eat

Sources

• FAMIC (Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center), pesticide registration information (as of Sept. 30, 2026) (Japanese)
• Food Safety Commission of Japan, risk assessment report on Dicamba (October 29, 2012) (Japanese)
• WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
• EU Pesticides Database (Dicamba)

Last checked 2026-10-01. Registrations and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.

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

• 2,4-D
• MCPA
• Triclopyr