"This chemical is very dangerous. It's lethal, and there's no antidote. Just one spoonful would cause certain and very painful death. Much indicates that it can also cause nerve damage and Parkinson's disease," undersecretary at the foreign ministry Anders Kruse told AFP.

The chemical, which was banned in Sweden in 1983, is used in herbicides for olive, wine grape and hazelnut farming in the EU.

The Swedish government brought suit before the European Court of Justice earlier this year demanding that a European Commission decision last December to approve paraquat be overturned.

"We want the court to overturn that decision and require the Commission to reconsider paraquat, since we feel that the first evaluation was not handled properly," Kruse said, pointing out that the Commission's ruling had mainly been based on one Spanish study that claimed the substance was safe to use.

"They disregarded the studies that showed the opposite result," he said.

Finland, Denmark and Austria have now joined Sweden's bid to push the EU to ban the use of paraquat, according to Kruse.

"We hope they will contribute with more data showing that the Commission's first decision was not the right one," he said.

TERRA.WIRE