AGP: CP/93

FAO SPECIFICATIONS
FAO PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

DIURON
3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 1980
 DISCLAIMER 1

FAO specifications are developed with the basic objective of

promoting, as far as practicable, the manufacture, distribution and use of pesticides
that meet basic quality requirements.

Compliance with the specifications does not constitute an endorsement or

warranty of the fitness of a particular pesticide for a particular purpose, including its
suitability for the control of any given pest, or its suitability for use in a particular
area. Owing to the complexity of the problems involved, the suitability of pesticides
for a particular purpose and the content of the labelling instructions must be decided at
the national or provincial level.

Furthermore, pesticides which are manufactured to comply with these

specifications are not exempted from any safety regulation or other legal or
administrative provision applicable to their manufacture, sale, transportation, storage,
handling, preparation and/or use.

FAO disclaims any and all liability for any injury, death, loss, damage or other
prejudice of any kind that may arise as a result of, or in connection with, the
manufacture, sale, transportation, storage, handling, preparation and/or use of
pesticides which are found, or are claimed, to have been manufactured to comply with
these specifications.

Additionally, FAO wishes to alert users to the fact that improper storage,
handling, preparation and/or use of pesticides can result in either a lowering or
complete loss of safety and/or efficacy.

FAO is not responsible, and does not accept any liability, for the testing of
pesticides for compliance with the specifications, nor for any methods recommended
and/or used for testing compliance. As a result, FAO does not in any way warrant or
represent that any pesticide claimed to comply with a FAO specification actually does
so.

1
This disclaimer applies to all specifications published by FAO.
 INTRODUCTION TO FAO SPECIFICATIONS
DEVELOPED UNDER THE OLD PROCEDURE

Between 1975 and 2000, FAO published booklets of specifications for technical
materials and related formulations of plant protection products. Revisions of, and
additions to, already published specifications will be issued when necessary. However,
all changes and revisions of FAO specifications are now subject to the new procedure
described in the Manual on the development and use of FAO and WHO Specifications for
Plant Protection Products, FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper No. 173, Rome
2002 (Revised First Edition available only on the FAO home page of the Internet at:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpp/pesticid/)

FAO specifications developed under the old procedure are based on the
requirements defined in the Fourth Edition of the Manual on the development and use of
FAO specifications for plant protection products, Plant Production and Protection Paper
No. 128, Rome 1995.

This manual contained detailed definitions and other essential background

information on basic procedures and technical principles adopted by the group on
Pesticide Specifications of the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Specifications,
Registration Requirements, Application Standards and Prior Informed Consent, such as:

1. Categories of Specifications (Section 3.1 of the Manual)

FAO Tentative Specifications (Code ‘S/T’, formerly ‘TS’) are those which have been
recommended by FAO as preliminary specifications and which are based on minimum
requirements. The methods of analysis cited are normally supplied by the manufacturer
or may already have been published or be the subject of collaborative work.

FAO Provisional Specifications [Code ‘S/P’, formerly (‘S’)] are those for which more
evidence of the necessary parameters is available and where some collaborative study of
the methods of analysis has been carried out.

FAO (full) Specifications (Code ‘S/F’, formerly ‘S’).

Specifications that have all necessary requirements together with CIPAC (full) methods,
or other collaboratively studied (proven) methods.2, 3

Wherever possible, standards for apparatus and common names for pesticides are those
approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

2. Expression of active ingredient content (Section 4.2.5 of the Manual)

- for solids, liquid technical materials, volatile liquids (of maximum boiling point
50°C) and viscous liquids (with minimum kinematic viscosity of 1 x 103 m2/s at
20°C) the FAO Specification shall be based on expression of the content as g/kg;
 - for all other liquids the active ingredient content of the product shall be declared
in terms of g/kg or g/l at 20°C. If the customer requires both g/kg and g/l at 20°C,
then in case of dispute the analytical results shall be calculated as g/kg.

3. Tolerance on content (Section 4.2.7 of the Manual)

A declared content of active ingredient must be included in all specifications, and one of
the problems immediately arising is the level of tolerance acceptable about the nominal
figure. The tolerance is influenced by (a) the reproducibility of the method of analysis,
(b) the sampling error and (c) the manufacturing variance.

Allowable variations in analytical results (i.e. tolerances in content of active ingredient)

with respect to specific pesticide consignments are intended to cover reasonable
variations in the contents of active ingredients. For examples of such tolerances, see the
table in Section 4.2.7 of the Manual.

4. Containers/packaging

FAO guidelines are in preparation.

Containers shall comply with pertinent national and international transport and safety
regulations.

Technical materials, dustable powders and granules

Containers shall be suitable, clean, dry and as specified, and shall not adversely affect, or
be affected by, the contents, but shall adequately protect them against external
conditions.

Wettable powders

The product shall be packed in suitable, clean, dry containers as specified in the order.
The container shall provide all necessary protection against compaction, atmospheric
moisture, loss by vaporization and/or contamination to ensure that the product suffers no
deterioration under normal transit and storage conditions.

The product shall be protected by an adequate moisture barrier. This may be a suitable
bag of polyethylene or alternative means of giving equal or better protection.

Solutions and emulsifiable concentrates

Containers shall be lined, where necessary, with a suitable material, or the interior
surfaces shall be treated to prevent corrosion and/or deterioration of the contents.

Additional information should be given in all specifications where particular pesticides

present problems in packaging.

5. Biological information

Phytotoxicity
 No test can be specified to cover the possible phytotoxicity of a formulation to all crops.
When a crop is not mentioned in the instructions for use, purchasers should check with
the supplier that the material is suitable, always provided that such a use is not restricted
or legally forbidden.

Wetting of crops

The dilute spray should satisfactorily wet the leaves of the specified crops when used in
accordance with the instructions. Test method MT 53.2, CIPAC F, p.162, may be useful.
_________________________________________________________
1
Should national pesticide specifications developed from these approved FAO specifications
deviate from them, the National Authority responsible for making such changes is requested to
inform the FAO Plant Protection Service of the nature of, and the reasons for, the modifications.
2
Methods of analysis and miscellaneous techniques referred to in these specifications have been
developed and adopted by CIPAC (Collaborative International Pesticides Analytical Council
Ltd.). See CIPAC Handbooks 1 (1970), 1A (1980), 1B (1983), 1C (1985), D (1988), E (1993), F
(1995), G (1995), CIPAC Proceedings 1980 and 1981, obtainable from Black Bear Press
Limited, King's Hedges Road, Cambridge CB4 2PQ, England. The page numbers of specific
methods are given in parentheses in the specifications. Copies of methods not yet published can
be obtained from the FAO Plant Protection Service.
3
Information on standard waters for laboratory evaluation of pesticidal formulations will be
found in CIPAC Monograph 1, Standard Waters and an FAO Survey on Naturally Occurring
Waters (1972), Black Bear Press Limited, King's Hedges Road, Cambridge CB4 2PQ, England.
 SUBMISSION OF DRAFT SPECIFICATIONS TO FAO

Any organization, commercial firm or interested individual is encouraged to submit

relevant specifications, or proposals for revision of existing specifications, for pesticide
products for consideration and possible adoption by FAO. Correspondence should be
addressed to the Pesticide Management Group, Plant Production and Protection Division,
FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153, Rome, Italy.

General guidelines in preparing draft specifications are given in the Manual on the
development and use of FAO and WHO Specifications for Plant Protection Products, FAO
Plant Production and Protection Paper No. 173, Rome 2002 (Revised First Edition available
only on the FAO home page of the Internet at: http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpp/pesticid/).

Specifications which are considered suitable for further processing are assigned
priorities and circulated to appropriate organizations and specialists to comment. Comments,
together with other relevant information, are then reviewed in detail by the Group on
Specifications of the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Specifications, Registration
Requirements, Application Standards and Prior Informed Consent. The drafts are converted
into FAO Provisional Specifications, or full FAO Specifications.
 DIURON TECHNICAL

FAO Specification Code 100/1/S/11 (100/TC/S/11)

.2 DESCRIPTION

The material shall consist essentially of diuron together with related manufacturing
impurities. It shall be a white to cream powder, free from extraneous impurities or
added modifying agents.

.3 ACTIVE INGREDIENT

.2.1 Identity Test

Where the identity of the material is in doubt it shall comply with the following tests:

.2.1.1 Melting Point (CIPAC 1A; 100/1/M/5.2.1)

154-159°C
The melting point of the material shall not be depressed by admixture with an
equal quantity of pure diuron.

.2.1.2 TLC (-/M/5.2.2)

The spot from the major component in the chromatogram prepared from the
material shall have the same Rf as that from a standard diuron.

.2.2 Diuron (-/M/5.3)

The diuron content shall be declared (minimum declared: 95%) and when determined,
the content obtained shall not differ from that declared by more than + 2 percentage
units.

.4 IMPURITIES

.3.1 Free amine salts (-/M/5.5)

Maximum: 0.4%, calculated as dimethylamine hydrochloride.

.3.2 Water (-/M/5.6)

Maximum: 1.0%
 DURION DISPERIBLE POWDERS

FAO Specification Code 100/3/S/14 (100/WP/S/14)

.1 DESCRIPTION

The product shall consist of a homogeneous mixture containing diuron (complying with
100/1/S/11) as the active ingredient, together with carriers and any necessary
formulants. It shall be a fine powder, free from visible extraneous matter and hard
lumps.

.2 ACTIVE INGREDIENT

.2.1 Identity Test

Where the identity of the active ingredient is in doubt it shall comply with the following
test:

.2.1.1 TLC (CIPAC 1A; 100/3/M/5.2)

The major spot in the chromatogram prepared from the extracted active
ingredient shall have the same Rf as that from a standard diuron.

.2.2 Diuron (-/M/5.3)

The diuron content shall be declared and when determined, the content obtained shall
not differ from that declared by more than the following amounts.

Declared Content Permitted Tolerance

Up to 60% + 5% of the declared content
Above 60% + 3 percentage units

.3 IMPURITIES

.3.1 Free amine salts (-/M/5.5)

Maximum: 0.4% of the diuron content found under .2.2, calculated as dimethylamine
hydrochloride.

.3.2 Water (-/M/5.6)

Maximum: 2.5%

.4 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

.4.1 Wet sieve test (CIPAC 1; MT 59.3)

Maximum: 2% retained on a 75 um test sieve.

.4.2 Suspensibility ((-/M/5.8)

A minimum of 40% of the diuron content declared under .2.2 shall be in suspension
after 30 min in CIPAC Standard Water A on the product as received and in Standard
Water C after the Stability Test (.5.1).
 Alternatively, if the buyer requires other CIPAC Standard Waters to be used, then this
should be specified when ordering.

.4.3 Wettability of the product (-/M/5.9)

Shall be completely wetted in not more than 1.5 min, without swirling.

.4.4 Persistent foam (-/M/5.10)

Maximum 20 ml after 1 min.

.5 STORAGE STABILITY

.5.1 Stability at 54°C (-/M/5.11)

After storage at 54 + 2°C for 14 days the product shall continue to comply with .2.2,
.3.1, .4.1 and .4.2.

.6 CONTAINERS

The product shall be packed in suitable, clean, dry containers as specified in the order.
The container shall provide all necessary protection against compaction, atmospheric
moisture, oxidation, loss by evaporation, and/or contamination to ensure that the
product suffers no deteroriation under normal transit and storage conditions.
The product shall be protected by an adequate moisture barrier. This may be an inner
bag of polyethylene (Note 1) or alternative means of giving equal or better protection.
Containers shall comply with pertinent national and international transport and safety
regulations.

Note 1: Because of the variation in the nature and size of the container, its destination
and other factors, it is not possible to specify the thickness of the polyethylene,
but as a guideline for a container with 50 kg of product, the inner liner might
be for example at least 0.075 mm thick.