Pesticide databaseInsecticidesChecked 2026-10-01
Emamectin Benzoate エマメクチン安息香酸塩
Macrolides and spinosynsRegistered in JapanActive ingredient: deleterious substanceWHO IIApproved in the EU
Macrolides and spinosyns: Insecticides based on substances made by soil microorganisms (spinosad, emamectin benzoate and others).
In Japan
- Registration
- Registered as a pesticide (first registered December 22, 1997). 10 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- cabbage, cucumber, tomato, eggplant, chrysanthemum, pine and others (80 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Deleterious (ordinary at 2% or less)Classes of the 10 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 8, deleterious substance 2Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- 0.0005 mg per kg of body weight per day
- ARfD (acute reference dose)
- 0.015（遊離塩基換算） mg per kg of body weight
- Evaluation
- Food Safety Commission of Japan, July 6, 2023
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 53-237 mg/kgBased 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 November 2026)Designated a “candidate for substitution” (to be replaced if safer alternatives exist).EU ADI: 0.0005 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.01 mg/kg bw
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)
Related explainers
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 Emamectin Benzoate (July 6, 2023) (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Emamectin)
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.
Pesticides registered in Japan are approved by the government with set crops, amounts, numbers of applications and days before harvest. This page lists facts stated in laws and in evaluations by public bodies; it does not judge whether anything is good or bad.