Company insists paraquat is safe

By CnAgri2012-07-24 18:09:35 Print Australia's biggest supplier of the chemical paraquat says there's no reason for the herbicide to be banned despite claims it's linked to Parkinson's Disease.

Paraquat is widely used on Australian farms to control grasses and broadleaf weeds, but it's banned in 32 countries.

Parkinson's Australia says there's growing evidence about the harmful effects of the herbicide and wants the Federal Government to investigate.

But Peter Arkle, from chemical company Syngenta, defends paraquat.

"Certainly paraquat's used in over 90 countries around the world and it's widely used in agriculture for over 50 years," he said.

Certainly it's really key that farmers do follow good stewardship and follow product label instructions, but Syngenta is very confident that paraquat products are safe and very important to Australian agriculture."