Pesticide databaseFungicidesChecked 2026-10-01
Metalaxyl メタラキシル
Other fungicides: Classes that fit none of the above, such as those for downy mildew and late blight.
In Japan
- Registration
- Registered as a pesticide (first registered February 3, 1984). 15 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- rice (paddy), strawberry, spinach, potato, tomato, kabocha pumpkin and others (73 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Metalaxyl: Ordinary / Metalaxyl-M: OrdinaryClasses of the 15 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 15Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- 0.08 mg per kg of body weight per day
- ARfD (acute reference dose)
- 0.5 mg per kg of body weight
- Evaluation
- Food Safety Commission of Japan, June 23, 2026
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 670 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 June 2029)Designated a “candidate for substitution” (to be replaced if safer alternatives exist).EU ADI: 0.08 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.5 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 Metalaxyl (June 23, 2026) (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Metalaxyl)
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.