Spinosad スピノサド
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 April 19, 1999). 33 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- rice (paddy), cabbage, napa cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, tomato and others (87 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Ordinary substanceClasses of the 33 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 31, deleterious substance 2Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- 0.024 mg per kg of body weight per day
- ARfD (acute reference dose)
- not necessary to set
- Evaluation
- Food Safety Commission of Japan, June 15, 2021
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 | 8 / 1,600 | 0.5% | 0 |
| Imported | 6 / 1,311 | 0.5% | 0 |
Found in domestic foods: cucumber (including gherkin), other brassica (Brassicaceae) vegetables, other vegetables, nira (garlic chives), peach, asparagus (max. 0.42 ppm)
Found in imported foods: tomato, banana, bell pepper, blueberry, immature peas (max. 0.1 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
- III (Slightly hazardous), LD50 3738 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 April 2041)EU ADI: 0.024 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.1 mg/kg bw
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)
Good to know
- An insecticide made from a substance produced by actinomycetes in soil. One of the pesticides allowed under organic JAS.
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 Spinosad (June 15, 2021) (Japanese)
- MHLW, results of pesticide residue testing in foods, fiscal 2024 (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Spinosad)
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.