PESTICIDES

Somei nteresting press release that went out from my office today:

TAKE ACTION ON PESTICIDES

On Tuesday 23 October, politicians from the UK are taking part in a major review of European pesticide legislation and this presents a once in a generation opportunity for a major re-think of our reliance on pesticides.
As an EU constituent you have a voice. And that’s why it’s vital that you make your views heard.
On 13 July 2007, a young German researcher working at the European Parliament bought eight fruit items from the convenience store located inside the Parliamentary building in Brussels. The purchase itself was unremarkable: some oranges, apples, pears, apricots, strawberries and three bunches of grapes. But the story of what happened next has astounded many working at the heart of European Government. The young researcher sent the fruit samples to the TMO analytical laboratory in the Netherlands where they were tested for traces of pesticides.
In total the eight fruit samples contained 28 different pesticides; including 10 carcinogens, eight suspected endocrine disruptors, three neurotoxins, three reproductive toxins, and two chemicals classified by the World Health Organisation as ‘Highly Hazardous’. The strawberries contained 14 different pesticide contaminants. Worse still, three of the eight fruit items contained pesticides at levels exceeding legal limits – thus rendering their sale illegal. Researchers later calculated that a five year old child eating just two of the oranges would ingest carcinogens at a dose 40% above internationally recognised safety levels.
While the results of this analysis are shocking, they are well in line with current estimates of EU food contamination. According to a 2006 survey published by the European Commission, the EU food chain is contaminated with 324 different pesticides – within which some of those most commonly detected are among the most detrimental to human health. In total 40% of fruit and vegetables sold in Europe contain pesticide residues, while one item in 30 contains pesticides at levels above EC legal limits. Based on these figures the average European consumes fruit and vegetables containing excessive levels of pesticides on an almost fortnightly basis. Even baby foods are affected – with 2.7 percent containing levels above the legal maximum.
It is difficult to quantify the negative health impacts that pesticide residues impose, but there is now mounting evidence to link pesticide exposure with serious impacts on human health.
- Findings reported at the European Respiratory Society annual meeting of 2007 show that adults in contact with pesticides face a higher risk of developing respiratory problems
- An EU study on Parkinson’s disease found that low-level exposure might increase the chances of developing the condition.
- In 2004 Family Physicians in Canada published a report strongly recommending that people reduce their exposure to pesticides after identifying consistent links to serious illness including reproductive problems, neurological diseases, leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- More recently researchers in Liverpool have found evidence that pesticides may be a major factor in breast, testicular and prostate cancer.
Most fruit and vegetables eaten in Europe are grown in Europe. In total an estimated 2.4 percent of fruit, vegetables and cereals grown and sold in the EU exceed legal limits on pesticides.
Those attempting to justify these excessive levels of pesticide use often claim that present levels of application are somehow essential to maintain high levels of agricultural productivity. Yet this claim is unfounded. Perhaps the best demonstration of the viability of long-term pesticide use reduction comes from Denmark. In 1985 Danish politicians, alarmed by the growing presence of pesticide contaminants in their food and water resources, instigated a national ‘Pesticide Action Plan’ aimed at achieving substantial decreases in pesticide use. They set concrete targets for pesticide use reduction, introduced forward-thinking market incentives for low-pesticide methodologies, and supported a comprehensive advisory service to work with farmers in using pesticides more effectively. Denmark’s farmers now use just half as much pesticide as they did 20 years ago, Danish vegetables are now six times less contaminated than their equivalent imports, and water quality has doubled. All this has been achieved with no significant economic impact on Danish farmers – and the Danes still reckon on further decreases in pesticide use in the coming years.




Denmark is not alone. In addition to the 4 percent of Europe’s agricultural land now farmed organically, small pockets of farmers are already engaged in low pesticide strategies. Two thirds of apples and pears grown in French-speaking Belgium are produced according to low pesticide methods. 8,000 farms in Italy have adopted strategies aimed at eliminating pesticide residues from food produce. And farmers in the Netherlands are working with their government to minimise the impacts of pesticide use. In each of these examples the aim is simple: to ensure sustained levels of production while using fewer toxic agrochemicals.
Persistent organic pollutants such as DDT, Dieldrin and Heptachlor are now largely phased out but many of today’s most widely used pesticides are actually far more toxic than those they have replaced.
Washing fruit and vegetables although strongly advised does not eliminate all pesticide residues as many become integral within the fruit and cannot be removed by washing or peeling.
Visit www.pesticidewatch.eu to send an e-mail to your MEPs asking for better legislation on pesticides. Ask your MEP to support:
• The prioritisation of human health and the environment
• The elimination of Europe’s most toxic pesticides for example
• Chlorpyrifos (neurotoxic)
• Imazalil (carcinogenic + reprotoxic)
• Iprodione (carcinogenic)
• Procymidone (carcinogenic)
• Thiabendazole (carcinogenic + reprotoxic)
• 2 Phenylphenol (carcinogenic + reprotoxic)
• Pirimiphos-methyl (neurotoxic)
• Malathion (neurotoxic)
• Dichlorvos (carcinogenic + neurotoxic)
• Targets for conversion to low pesticide farming methods
• Support for farmers in reducing pesticide use
• Greater protection for vulnerable groups and rural residents
• Better safeguards for European water resources
• More public information

For further information please contact Rebecca Atwood rebecca@katharinehamnett.com and
Elliott Cannell elliott-paneurope@pan-uk.org