Australia’s pesticide authority has raised new health concerns regarding a chemical used on berries, specifically affecting young children.

Raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, known for their high nutritional benefits, have become popular choices in healthy family diets. However, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has highlighted the need to tighten regulations concerning dimethoate, an insecticide commonly applied to protect berries from fruit fly damage.

This week, the APVMA revealed that children aged between two and six who consume berries treated with dimethoate within a week of harvesting could be exposed to unsafe levels of the chemical. In response to these findings, the authority has mandated that fruit growers must now wait a minimum of 14 days after applying the pesticide before harvesting, allowing more time for the chemical to break down.

In a decision announced this week, the national watchdog said children aged between two and six years old who ate berries treated with dimethoate within seven days or less of harvest risked exposure of the chemical beyond safe limits.

The APVMA ruled fruit growers must now wait at least 14 days after applying the pesticide before harvesting to give it more time to degrade.

It said existing label directions needed altering to ensure dimethoate’s use on berries did not present “an undue hazard to people”.

Until now, growers had to wait one day after spraying blueberries and seven days following the treatment of raspberries and blackberries.

Earlier this year, the APVMA began reviewing potential health hazards from dimethoate amid the growing popularity of berries.

Data from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand showed Australians’ consumption of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries has jumped since the last review of the pesticide in 2017.

Health concerns over dimethoate resulted in European Union countries banning the chemical in 2019.

Industry body Berries Australia told 9news.com.au that figures it collected over the past five years showed dimethoate usage had fallen.