Etofenprox エトフェンプロックス
Pyrethroids: Developed from a component of pyrethrum flowers (pyrethrin). They act on the sodium channels of nerves.
In Japan
- Registration
- Registered as a pesticide (first registered April 13, 1987). 50 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- rice (paddy), soybean, edamame, potato, cucumber, cabbage and others (90 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Ordinary substanceClasses of the 50 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 48, deleterious substance 2Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- 0.031 mg per kg of body weight per day
- ARfD (acute reference dose)
- 1 mg per kg of body weight
- Evaluation
- Food Safety Commission of Japan, June 11, 2024
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.
In Japan's national residue testing (fiscal 2024)
| Produce | Detected / tested | Detection rate | Over the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 58 / 4,324 | 1.3% | 4 |
| Imported | 6 / 2,702 | 0.2% | 1 |
Found in domestic foods: edamame, persimmon, turnip roots, cucumber (including gherkin), shungiku (garland chrysanthemum), other citrus fruits, other Asteraceae vegetables, other herbs, other vegetables, daikon-type roots (including radish), eggplant, napa cabbage and others (max. 0.9 ppm)
Found in imported foods: other nightshade (Solanaceae) vegetables, endive, okra (max. 0.33 ppm)
Tests are counted as pesticide × sample. Any detection counts as “detected” — it does not mean the limit was exceeded. For pesticides outside the top 20, figures are summed from the food-by-food tables of the full report.
Evaluations abroad
- WHO acute toxicity class
- U (Unlikely to present acute hazard in normal use), LD50 >10000 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 March 2027)Designated a “candidate for substitution” (to be replaced if safer alternatives exist).EU ADI: 0.03 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 1.0 mg/kg bw
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)
Good to know
- In the MAFF survey of honeybee poisoning incidents (fiscal 2013–2015), among the insecticides found in honeybees that died during the rice stink bug control season, this active ingredient accounted for 1 (38 in total, with overlaps).
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 Etofenprox (June 11, 2024) (Japanese)
- MHLW, results of pesticide residue testing in foods, fiscal 2024 (Japanese)
- Consumer Affairs Agency, daily intake survey of pesticide residues in foods, fiscal 2024 (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Etofenprox)
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.