The Irish Health and Safety Authority has launched an investigation into the alleged use of dangerous and banned pesticides in the Republic’s mushroom industry.

The move follows as yet unsubstantiated claims by mushroom workers that they are being required to use formaldehyde and other banned chemicals. Some of the complaints have been made directly to the state agency, others have come from Ireland’s largest union, SIPTU, to which the workers belong.

A spokesman for the authority said inspectors would be checking not just what chemicals are being used across the industry, but also if they are being used without adequate safeguards for workers’ health. There is no time limit on the investigation - “it will take as long as it takes” - but seems set to continue into early next year.

According to the spokesman, offending plants could face an official warning or a prosecution, depending on the seriousness of what is discovered. He added that at the end of the investigation, the authority would make its findings public.

In their complaints, the workers claim that in addition to formaldehyde, they have been required to use chemicals such as Sportak 45 and Shirlan, which are authorised for use on cereals and potatoes but are not to be sprayed on mushrooms. These substances, they say, caused skin irritation and breathing difficulties.

One west of Ireland plant named in the complaints has already been visited by Department of Agriculture inspectors, who found no evidence of banned chemicals. Its owner, a major exporter to the UK, rejected the allegations, which he claimed came from former employees with grievances.

“We absolutely do not use these substances,” he said. “We export most of our mushrooms to the UK market and we are tested there every week. These tests are not just for pesticides, they cover listeria, e-coli and salmonella as well.”

This is the second health and safety investigation into the industry this year. The first, which is still ongoing, was prompted by the death of a 14-year-old Lithuanian boy, who was overcome by fumes while helping to load compost on to a lorry at a County Cavan mushroom factory.

The boy had arrived in Ireland only weeks earlier to visit his mother, who lives in the area. The Health and Safety Authority said that as the tragedy had happened in the open air, it raised “serious issues” that needed to be examined.

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