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Home > Food & Agriculture > Animal Industries > Sheep > Reducing Pesticide Residues in Wool

Reducing Pesticide Residues in Wool

When pesticides are applied to sheep for lice or flystrike control, traces remain in the fleece at the next shearing. Most of the pesticide residues on shorn wool are removed during scouring but come out in the wool scour effluent.

Colour photograph of single sheep in paddock.

Colour photograph of single sheep in paddock.

Pesticides in wool scour sludge and effluent may cause pollution problems if released into rivers. Many aquatic species are very sensitive to the pesticides used to control lice and flies on sheep. This is particularly of concern in Europe where most wool scouring plants discharge the effluent into waterways.

Surveys have shown that Tasmania has lower concentrations of pesticides in wool compared with most other states and this has opened marketing opportunities.

It is not necessary for all wool to have a low concentration of pesticides. However, it is important that wool producers keep records of treatments applied so that wool is directed to appropriate markets. A record book suitable for lice and flystrike treatments can be downloaded and printed below.

Record Sheets - Sheep & Flystrike Treatments
(PDF: 82 KB / 5 pages)

This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Wool producers may sign a declaration at shearing if their wool is suitable for the Eco-label market - see below.

Additional information:

See the LiceBoss

website for everything you need to know about Lice control and for a full list of products used for flystrike control or lice eradication.

EU Eco-label

The European Council allows textiles that meet specific raw fibre specifications and processing specifications to be identified at point of sale by an Eco-label.

In 2002 the specifications for greasy wool were introduced.

To be compliant, greasy wool must have total residues for pesticides below these limits:
Total organophosphates	less than 2 mg/kg
Total synthetic pyrethroids	less than 0.5 mg/kg
Total diflubenzuron + triflumuron	less than 2 mg/kg
Total organochlorines	less than 0.5 mg/kg

Tasmania has a low incidence of lice, so many wool flocks do not require lice treatment. Treatment to protect from flystrike is not required on all sheep so that many wool producers have some sheep that have had no pesticide treatment. Wool producers who keep records of treatments can identify those lines of wool that come from sheep that had had no treatment or only limited pesticide treatment.

At sale, Tasmanian wool can be declared to be chemical-free if no pesticides have been used at or since the last shearing.

If the sheep were treated they may meet the Eco-label requirements if the treatment meets all the following criteria:

No use of any synthetic pyrethroids, diflubenzuron or triflumuron at or since the previous shearing.
No shower or plunge dipping of any sheep more than 6 weeks after the previous shearing.
No use of organophosphates in the last 7 months before this shearing.
No use of any other pesticide, except spinosad, in the last 2 months before this shearing.

For Further Information:

Contact: Wool Quality Officer (Residues) - Wool

Brian Horton
165 Westbury Road
PROSPECT 7249
Phone: 03 6336 5321
Fax: 03 6344 4961
Email: Brian.Horton@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

Tasmania Online | Service Tasmania

This page - http://www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/CPAS-5KK5SF?open - was last published on 10 September 2009 by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. Questions concerning its content can be sent to ExtensiveAg Enquiries by using the feedback form, by mail to GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7001, or by telephone to 03 6336 5277.

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