WTO Notification: Draft EU Regulation proposes restriction on calcium cyanamide in fertilisers
European Commission moves to amend REACH Annex XVII due to environmental and health concerns
03 Oct 2025The substance calcium cyanamide (CaCN₂, CAS No: 156-62-7), marketed mainly in the granular formulation known as PERLKA®, has been used for many years in agriculture as a slow-release fertiliser. However, its use entails significant risks for the environment. In particular, during application and subsequent transformation in soil, compounds such as cyanamide, urea and cyanoguanidine are formed, which can contaminate surface waters and soils, with toxic effects on aquatic organisms, algae, macroorganisms and soil microorganisms.
Scientific assessments carried out by the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) and by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) highlighted that the risks associated with calcium cyanamide are not adequately controlled. Subsequently, the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) confirmed the need for a restriction at EU level.
While acknowledging secondary effects of the substance potentially useful to farmers, such as herbicidal, fungicidal and molluscicidal activity and other effects that promote plant growth, the European institutions concluded that the environmental risks outweigh the agronomic benefits. In addition, a potential endocrine-disrupting property has been reported, with impacts on human health and non-target organisms.
The new regulation will provide for:
- A ban on the placing on the market of calcium cyanamide as a fertiliser starting five years after the regulation enters into force;
- A ban on the use of the substance as a fertiliser starting six years after the regulation enters into force, in order to allow the exhaustion of existing stocks.
The Commission also assessed that, despite the economic losses for producers and some farmers, alternative fertilisers and agronomic techniques are already available within the European Union, capable of replacing the product without significant effects on overall productivity.
For businesses and agricultural operators, it will therefore be essential to adapt as soon as possible to the new legislation, assessing the use of safe and compliant alternative solutions.