PAN Europe - News

News

Pesticides Updates Archive 2008

May - August

25 August 2008
GERMANY: Coalition sues Bayer over bee deaths
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers in cooperation with the German Bee Keepers association has filed a law suit against the Chairman of the chemical company Bayer. The group has accused Bayer CropScience of "marketing dangerous pesticides and thereby accepting the mass death of bees all over the world."
- news story

08 August 2008
NEW ZEALAND: Endosulphan residues found in food
The persistent insecticide endosulphan has been found 50% of tomato samples taken in Auckland, 100% of samples in Wellington. Although banned in 55 other countries endosulphan is still used in New Zealand.
- press release

05 August 2008
INDIA: Pepsi and Coke test positive for pesticides
Tests carried out on soft drinks in Delhi have shown 12 major brands contain a cocktail of pesticides according to the for Centre Science and Environment. All samples contained residues of lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos.
- news story

24 July 2008
USA: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes ban of pesticide carbofuran from food
Banned in granular form since the 1990s, under proposed EPA regulations carbofuran residues will be banned from all food products in the USA, including imported food stuffs. Carbofuran has been shown to have negative effects on the nervous system and is highly toxic to birds.
- new story

09 July 2008
Global pesticide use rises
Increased sales in eastern European, the intensification of agriculture in Brazil, and the growing use of pesticides as a preventative measure, lead to increases in global pesticide use. Analysts also report rising prices for pesticides as well as mounting corporate profits.
- News story

01 July 2008
Glyphosate costs in Europe increase by 1 billion euros
The price of glyphosate products in Europe has steadily increased by 350% since 1 July 2007.
- News story

27 June 2008
Endosulfan halts Philippines ferry search
The search for bodies trapped inside a capsized Philippines passenger ferry has been halted after the discovery that 10 tonnes of technical grade endosulfan was stowed on board. According to the Philippines' Fertiliser and Pesticides Authority (FPA) the endosulfan was bound for a Del Monte plantation in the south of the country.
- News story

4 June 2008
Chlorinated pesticides linked to diabetes
Licensed pesticide applicators using chlorinated pesticides are at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk, said the scientists behind the study.
- Press release
- American Journal of Epidemiology

2 June 2008
INDIA: Brothers die in pesticide poisoning
Two brothers died after eating cucumbers freshly sprayed with pesticides in their field in the village of Khanpur, Uttarakhand. Kuldeep and Sandeep were looking after their cucumber field when they picked two cucumbers and ate them. Local NGOs have urged the Government to help raise awareness of the dangers posed by pesticides.
- News story

23 May 2008
Germany bans pesticides linked to bee deaths
Eight pesticide seed treatment products are banned in Germany due to links with mass deaths among bees. The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Württemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin
- News story
- Press release

May 20 2008
Pet shampoos linked to autism
Mothers of children with autism are twice as likely to report shampooing their pets with pyrethrin-based shampoos around the time of their pregnancy. Pyrethrin came into use about 20 years ago to replace organophosphates.
- News story

19 May 2008
DNA damage 'caused by pesticides'
Research in India suggests exposure to pesticides could have damaged the DNA of people in farming communities, leading to higher rates of cancer. Professor Satbir Kaur, of the Patiala University, Punjab said the study ruled out other factors such as age, alcohol intake and smoking, concluding that the probable cause of this fundamental change in the building block of life was use of pesticide sprays.
- News story

17 May 2008
Germans sue over dead bees
Thousands of German bee-keepers are readying claims for compensation against farmers and pesticide makers as mass deaths among bees are linked to the insecticide clothianidin. Vast numbers of the insects were killed in the Rhine valley area of Germany's Baden-Württemberg state by the chemical clothianidin, the Julius Kuehn Institute in the northern city of Braunschweig said. 29 out of 30 dead bees checked had been killed by contact with the pesticide.
- News story

May 14 2008
NIGERIA BANS 30 AGROCHEMICAL PRODUCTS
Nigeria has banned the sale and supply of 30 agrochemical products, according to the Nigeria-based Vanguard news service. Pesticides reportedly banned include endosulfan, parathion, phosphamidon, Methamidophos, monocrotophos as well as several chemicals already included under the POPs Convention.
- News story

12 May 2008
UGANDA: Organic exporters in DDT scare
Exporters of organic products are preparing to file a lawsuit against the government, accusing it of non-adherence to WHO guidelines on indoor spraying. The exporters contend that the manner in which the spraying is being done could contaminate the food chain, reviving fears that Uganda's organic exports, worth about $500 million annually, will be rejected in American and European markets in their entirety if traces of DDT are found in any consignment.
- News story

9 May 2008
DDT shows up in Antarctic penguins
New research finds that DDT is still being detected in the body tissues of penguins in Antarctica, probably due to the chemical’s accumulation in melting glaciers. Researchers were surprised to see that the level of DDT in Adelies’ fat tissues had not declined, despite international restrictions on its use.
- News story

< Back to Pesticide Updates