Pesticide databaseHerbicidesChecked 2026-10-01
Pentachlorophenol PCP（ペンタクロロフェノール）
Other herbicides: Classes that fit none of the above.
In Japan
- Registration
- Its registration as a pesticide expired on June 26, 1990 (first registered March 29, 1954). It can no longer be used as a pesticide in Japan.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- No risk assessment report by the Food Safety Commission of Japan was found
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 | 0 / 20 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Imported | 0 / 11 | 0.0% | 0 |
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
- Ib (Highly hazardous), LD50 D80 mg/kg (dermal)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
- Not approved in the EU
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans)Pentachlorophenol (see also Polychlorophenols): Vol. 53, 71, 117 (evaluated 2016) / Polychlorophenols and their sodium salts (mixed exposures) (see Pentachlorophenol; 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol): Vol. 53, 71 (evaluated 1998)IARC classifications rate the strength of evidence that something can cause cancer, not the size of the risk at the amounts eaten in food.
Good to know
- Registration of PCP itself (used as a fungicide and for other purposes) expired in 1971, and registration of PCP sodium salt, which was used as a paddy herbicide, expired in 1990. IARC classifies pentachlorophenol in Group 1.
- In 1962, PCP washed out of paddies by heavy rain killed large numbers of shellfish and fish in the Ariake Sea, Lake Biwa and elsewhere, and the fishery damage was estimated at about 2.6 billion yen.
Related explainers
Sources
- FAMIC (Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center), pesticide registration information (as of Sept. 30, 2026) (Japanese)
- MHLW, results of pesticide residue testing in foods, fiscal 2024 (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Pentachlorophenol)
- IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) List of Classifications
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.