February - March 2007
1. PAN Europe activities
HEAL and PAN Europe Workshop "Pesticide use reduction
for better health", European Parliament, 7 March 2007
As the European Parliament gears up for the upcoming first reading
of the new EU legislation on pesticides, the Health and Environment
Alliance (HEAL) and Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN-E) have
contributed to the debate by organising a workshop on the 7 of March
to call for pesticide use reduction for better health, particularly
of children and vulnerable groups.
The workshop was hosted by MEP Hiltrud Breyer, rapporteur for the
Regulation on the placing of Plant Protection Products in the Market,
and co-hosted by MEPs Erna Hennicot Schoepges, Dorette Corbey and
Roberto Musacchio. Dr Roberto Bertollini, WHO Europe, Prof. Philippe
Grandjean, Harvard University USA and University of Southern Denmark
and other experts and stakeholders presented the latest scientific
findings pointing to potential links between pesticide exposure
and neurotoxicity to children’s developing brain as well as
acute and chronic illnesses including allergies, asthma, several
types of cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
The workshop had 60 participants including MEPs and assistants,
representatives from the Permanent Representations of Member States
in Brussels, European Commission officials and several NGO and industry
stakeholders.
Briefing and poster “Cut back on pesticides for
healthier lives”
The Health and Environment Alliance and (HEAL) and Pesticide Action
Network Europe (PAN-E) urge MEPs to “cut back on pesticides
for healthier lives” in the context of the European Parliament
discussion on pesticides and supported their demands with a briefing
and a poster. The briefing highlights the new scientific understanding
of health impacts of pesticides such as the “cocktail”
toxicity of certain pesticides, the prevalence of chronic health
effects connected to the exposure to low concentrations of pesticides
and the special sensitivity of children. HEAL and PAN-E conclude
the briefing with four recommendations for the effective application
of the precautionary principle in pesticide policies to: reduce
the overall use of pesticides; exclude unacceptable pesticides on
the basis of their intrinsic hazards; substitute dangerous pesticides
by less dangerous alternatives, including non-chemical methods;
and provide better protection of children and against combination
effects of pesticides.
The poster focuses on commonly used pesticides documented to be
neurotoxic that need to be prioritized for testing and substitution.
The main source of information is the article “Developmental
neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals” published by Professors
Grandjean and Landrigan in the medical publication The Lancet in
the end of 2006. The authors published a list of known neurotoxic
chemicals, including dozens of pesticides, associated with the present
pandemic of developmental disability affecting the nervous system
in children.
Hearings in the European Parliament
A number of public hearings have been organised in the European
Parliament as different political groups engage in policy discussions
and prepare their positions for the upcoming first reading of the
new EU legislation on pesticides. Pesticide Action Network Europe
(PAN-E) has contributed to the debate by presenting our views on
the different pieces of legislation in the Thematic Strategy (Framework
Directive for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, Regulation for
placing pesticides in the market and Communication).
Grazia Cioci, Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe coordinator participated
in the lunchtime seminar hosted by MEP Irena Belohorská on
the Communication on the Thematic Strategy on the 6 of February
and the public hearing hosted by EPP (Group of European People’s
Party and European Democrats) MEPs Christa Klass and Hennicot-Schoepges
on the 8 of February. Sofia Parente, PAN-E coordinator participated
in the PES (Socialist Group in the European Parliament) hearing
“Safe food and healthy environment - the future of plant protection
in the EU” on the 5 of March and the lunchtime debate on Denmark’s
Pesticide Use Reduction Programme organised by ALDE (Group of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) on the 21 of March.
2. Published news and information
Approval and ban of active ingredients in EU review
The EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH),
in its meeting of 15-16 March 2007 has approved the insecticides
pirimiphos-methyl (cholinesterase inhibitor), ethoprophos (cholinesterase
inhibitor, acute toxic, carcinogen, potential groundwater contaminant)
and fipronil (toxic to bees). These substances will be added to
Annex I of the authorisation directive 91/414/EC.
In the same meeting of the Standing Committee, benfuracarb (cholinesterase
inhibitor) and trifluralin were rejected and will be phased out
in Europe. The proposal on methomyl (cholinesterase inhibitor, acute
toxic, suspected endocrine disruptor, potential groundwater contaminant),
did not get a qualified majority and the substance will be referred
to the Council for a decision. Voting on 1, 3-dichloropropene (acute
toxic, carcinogen, groundwater contaminant) was postponed.
New research shows effects in descendants of rats exposed
to vinclozolin
Environmental contamination by endocrine-disrupting chemicals can
promote disease across subsequent generations. In natural populations,
both sexes may encounter affected as well as unaffected individuals
during the breeding season, and any diminution in attractiveness
could compromise reproductive success. This new research examines
mate preference in male and female rats whose progenitors had been
treated with the endocrine disruptor fungicide vinclozolin. This
effect is sex-specific, and the team demonstrates that females three
generations removed from the exposure discriminate and prefer males
who do not have a history of exposure, whereas similarly imprinted
males do not exhibit such a preference.
The observations suggest that the consequences of endocrine disruptors
are not just transgenerational but can be "transpopulational",
because in many mammalian species, males are the dispersing sex.
The results indicate that transgenerational inheritance of the action
of endocrine disruptors can be a significant force in sexual selection.
Potential risk to consumers’ health arising from
proposed temporary MRLs
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an opinion
on the possible acute and chronic health risks from certain proposed
residue levels of pesticides in food and feed. This is one of the
first steps in the full EU harmonisation of national Maximum Residue
Levels (MRLs) for pesticides set in the Member States. MRLs that
are considered safe for the population in one Member State may not
necessarily be safe for the population in other countries due to
different food consumption habits across Europe.
According to the risk assessment, 92 of the 236 active substances
evaluated by EFSA were unlikely to present a risk to consumers.
For the remaining 144 substances, the first screening could not
exclude a potential consumer risk. More work will now be carried
out on these substances by the Member States and the European Commission
with a view to establishing temporary MRLs. EFSA is ready to provide
further scientific advice to risk managers in the context of the
harmonisation of temporary MRLs for pesticides.
EU wide Maximum Residue Levels are only set for about 250 active
substances (ingredient compounds used in pesticides). For the remaining
substances, the EFSA evaluation is now the first step in the full
harmonization of the Maximum Residue Levels for pesticides which
are presently subject to different national Maximum Residue Levels
in the Member States.
EUREPGAP introduces changes in compliance criteria
regarding pesticides
After much criticism about the lack of requirements for Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) in EUREPGAP produce, PAN-E took part in discussions
with EUREPGAP in 2005 and 2006 over requirements for IPM or for
the selection of less hazardous products in their standards. New
proposals for Control Points & Compliance Criteria (CPCC) for
this private crop assurance scheme required by many of Europe’s
supermarkets have now been published. They will become obligatory
in January 2008, and growers can be certified according to these
new criteria from March 2007 onwards.
The main change related to pesticides is a new section on IPM which
includes the FAO Code of Conduct definition of IPM (in line with
the definition proposed by the Commission in the proposed Regulation
for the placing of pesticides in the market). In order to be EUREPGAP
certified, farmers must now show evidence of: implementing at least
one activity in the Prevention category, Observation & Monitoring
category and Intervention. Additionally, the use of methyl bromide
is now prohibited for soil fumigation in the protocols for fruits
and vegetables; flowers and ornamentals; green coffee; and tea.
Use of lawn and garden pesticides may increase risk
of breast cancer
Researchers from New York and North Carolina recently conducted
a study to evaluate the use of residential pesticides and a potential
link to breast cancer. This study included 1,508 women with newly
diagnosed breast cancer and 1,556 women without breast cancer. Study
participants, who lived in Long Island, New York, were evaluated
between 1996 and 1997. Residential pesticide use, as well as other
risk factors, was assessed through in-person questionnaires administered
by an interviewer.
The use of lawn and garden pesticides was associated with an approximate
40% increased risk in developing breast cancer. The study also concluded
there was no apparent association between increased doses and increased
risk of developing the disease. These results call for prevention
and use of non-chemical alternatives for pest control in laws and
gardens.
Towards a ban of pesticide use in lawns and golf courses
in Canada
Across Canada, pesticide laws already protect 127 communities against
pesticide use on lawns and in public areas. The Quebec government
has banned all cosmetic use in the province, and Ontario might follow
the example soon. In Ontario, nineteen communities representing
over 4 million residents (36% of Ontario’s population) have
already banned pesticide use in public areas and the Green Party
of Ontario is calling on the provincial government to ban the use
of pesticides in golf courses as well.
The problem with golf courses is the high use per hectare. On average,
about 5kg of pesticides are applied per hectare to golf courses
each year compared to 1.5kg per hectare on agricultural land. These
pesticides include the herbicide 2,4-D, a possible carcinogen; the
fungicide chlorothalonil, a probable human carcinogen; and the insecticide
chlorpyrifos, one of the leading causes of acute insecticidal poisoning
incidents in the U.S. according to the Environmental Protection
Agency. A new study by the City of Ottawa reveals pesticides from
residential lawns and golf courses have severely contaminated the
Rideau River.
While public education campaigns can provide lawn and garden owners
with valuable information on alternatives to using pesticides, recent
studies suggest that education alone does not result in reduced
pesticide use.
Strychnine banned for mole control in the UK and the
European Union
Safer and more humane methods of controlling moles must now be
introduced after the UK government's failure to reverse an EU ban
on the use of strychnine. From September 2006, a number of biocides
have been banned in the EU in the framework of the implementation
of the Biocides Directive.
After manufacturers failed to provide scientific evidence proving
strychnine is safe, the UK Government appealed to continue using
strychnine for mole control as a last resort to prevent a ban. But
all EU countries have joined the European Commission in unanimously
rejecting the UK's appeal.
The changes mean that around 3,000 users, who have been granted
Government licenses to use strychnine to kill moles on agricultural
or other extensive grassland such as golf courses, now have to use
other methods. The main alternatives to poisoning are 'kill traps'.
If used correctly, these kill individual moles compared with indiscriminate
eradication with strychnine.
Moles can actually be gardeners’ friends as they eat slugs
and many harmful insect larvae such as cockchafers and carrotfly.
Their tunnels also help to drain and aerate heavy soils and the
fine soil of molehills was traditionally used to make potting compost.
Foetal exposure to common chemicals can activate obesity
Exposure to environmental chemicals found in everyday plastics
and pesticides while in the womb may make a person more prone to
obesity later in life, new research indicates. Obesity is generally
discussed in terms of calorie intake but new research has found
that when foetuses are exposed to these chemicals, the way their
genes function may be altered to make them more prone to obesity
and disease.
Using laboratory mice, Prof. vom Saal from the University of Missouri
Columbia has studied the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals
and found that they cause mice to be born at very low birth weights
and then gain abnormally large amounts of weight in a short period
of time, more than doubling their body weight in just seven days.
Vom Saal followed the mice as they got older and found that these
mice were obese throughout their lives. He said studies of low-birth-weight
children have shown a similar overcompensation after birth, resulting
in lifelong obesity.
Endosulfan recommended to be added to toxic trade blacklist
The third meeting of the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam
Convention on Prior Informed Consent PIC (20-23 March, Rome) agreed
to forward to the Conference of the Parties the recommendation for
inclusion of endosulfan in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention.
This will mean that endosulfan could be added to a list of other
chemicals considered so harmful they can only be traded in special
circumstances. Endosulfan would only be allowed to be exported to
countries which have explicitly chosen to permit it, a measure aimed
at protecting human health and the environment in developing countries.
PIC signatory governments have to approve the decision before it
can come into force, something they are expected to do at a meeting
of the Rotterdam Convention in 2008.
Despite being banned or restricted in the EU and a number of other
countries, endosulfan is widely sprayed on food crops and cotton
around the globe, especially in developing countries. It is acutely
toxic, carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting and is responsible
for the poisoning of hundreds of farmers, livestock and wildlife
world wide. Tributyltin (TBT), an endocrine disruptor that can devastate
marine life in harbours and used in "antifouling paint"
for ships' hulls, was also recommended for inclusion under PIC.
PAN was represented at the meeting by Davo Simplice Vodouhê
from the Benin organisation producing and promoting organic cotton
OBEPAB and Carina Weber from PAN Germany.
3. News from PAN Europe partners
Field Guide to Non-chemical Pest Management in Tomato
Production
PAN Germany has published the fifth field guide in a series on
non-chemical pest management in the tropics. These field guides
focus on just one crop and deal with all relevant information on
how to manage agricultural pests (e.g. insects, mites,
diseases) without using chemical pesticides. The basis for these
easy-to-read booklets is OISAT, the PAN Germany online information
service for non-chemical pest management in the tropics.
The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton
This new report by the Environmental Justice Foundation in collaboration
with the Pesticide Action Network UK, reveals the routine use of
harmful chemicals, including nerve agents and neurotoxins, on cotton
crops. Vomiting, paralysis, incontinence, coma, seizures and death
are some of the many side effects suffered by farmers and children
in the developing world who are routinely exposed to pesticides,
many of which are banned or restricted in use in the West.
Cotton is the most valuable non-food agricultural product and is
labelled as the world's “dirtiest” crop. US$2 billion’s
worth of chemicals are sprayed on the world’s cotton crop
every year, almost half of which is considered toxic enough to be
classified as hazardous by the World Health Organisation. Cotton
is responsible for the release of 16% of global insecticides –
more than any other single crop and in total, almost 1kg of hazardous
pesticides is applied for every hectare of global cropland under
cotton. Aldicarb, a powerful nerve agent, is one of the most toxic
pesticides applied to cotton worldwide. Despite its World Health
Organisation classification, “extremely hazardous”,
US$112 million’s worth is applied to cotton crops each year.
Endosulfan - attributed to serious health problems, including coma,
seizures, convulsions and death – remains as one of the most
widely used pesticides in the world: in India, over 3,000 tonnes
is applied to cotton crops annually. Endosulfan is thought to be
the most important source of fatal poisoning among cotton farmers
in West Africa. Children are inherently more vulnerable to the negative
impacts of exposure to pesticides. In countries such as Uzbekistan
and India, children work in the cotton industry, live near cotton
fields or are at high danger of pesticide exposure from reused pesticide
containers and food.
Week without Pesticides in France
After the success of the first celebration of the Week without
Pesticides in 2006, the 2007 week witnessed even more events and
organisations joining in France, as well as events in Italy and
the Netherlands. The Week without Pesticides was organised by ACAP,
a coalition of over 100 French organisations started by MDRGF in
2004 and comprehended a series of events during ten days (20-31
March) aimed at promoting alternatives to pesticides in agriculture
and amenity use.
With 80,000 tonnes of active substances used annually, France is
the largest user of pesticides in Europe. Although alternatives
exist and are successfully being implemented by farmers and amateur
users, they are not sufficiently promoted to become mainstream.
The French public is worried about pesticides residues in food but
the knowledge of alternatives to pesticides is currently limited.
This series of conferences, visits to farms, gardens and orchards,
film projections and debates is hopefully bringing the issue closer
to the public opinion.
Why Risk Assessment is Necessary for Substance Mixtures
The new PAN Germany paper summarises the current knowledge on combination
effects of pesticides and demands public authorities responsible
for pesticide regulation to consider combination effects regularly
and in a methodically well-grounded manner in the risk assessment
of pesticides.
Pesticides: revelations of a French scandal
This new book by Fabrice Nicolino and François Veillerette
is causing extremes of protest and support in France. It shows how
the agrochemical lobby in France has succeeded in influencing all
the major decision centres and determining key policies in the last
decades. Fabrice Nicolino is a journaliste and author of the book
“Le tour de France d’un écologiste“. François
Veillerette is president of MDRGF, Board member of PAN Europe and
author of the book “Pesticides, le piège se referme”.
This PAN Europe Newsletter was compiled by Sofia
Parente
Contributions are welcome from PAN Europe network members, PURE
supporters and individuals.
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