[ noun ] a chemical sprayed on fruit trees to regulate their growth so the entire crop can be harvested at one time <noun.substance>
The bans are in response to a report by the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council that states the chemical daminozide, sold under brand names including Alar, could increase the rate of cancer in children.
Alar is the trade name for daminozide, a chemical growth regulator marketed by Uniroyal Chemical Co. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that it intends to ban Alar by 1990, but for now it is still legal to use.
Alar is the marketing name for daminozide, a growth regulator that enhances the appearance of apples and increases their shelf life.
Nevertheless, Moore said if daminozide were a newly introduced pesticide it would not be approved.
He maintained the only opposition to an immediate ban comes from suppliers of Alar, or daminozide.
Alar, technically known as daminozide, was singled out by the NRDC study, although industry and government officials have said only from 5 percent to 10 percent of apples are sprayed with the chemical.
The Environmental Protection Agency lowered the residue tolerated on vegetables and fruits sprayed with the growth-regulating chemical daminozide to 20 parts per million from 30 parts per million.
Growers contend they voluntarily have cut back on Alar _ the trade name for daminozide _ since concerns about the chemical first were raised three years ago.
Alar, trade name for the chemical daminozide, is sprayed on apple trees to help the apples stay on longer, improving color and crispness and giving farmers more time to harvest.
The Alar scare was ignited in late February, when the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council issued a report saying eating apples treated with the chemical daminozide, marketed as Alar, increased the cancer risk in children.
At the center of the controversy is the chemical daminozide, sold under the trade name Alar, which the EPA said has caused cancer in test animals.