Briefings

The Flemish government approved a new pesticide plan last week, but it falls fundamentally short. While pesticides are harmful to biodiversity and public health, it lacks effective measures. The precautionary principle, European directives and scientific recommendations are ignored. Who actually benefits from this plan?

What do mineral waters and a ‘forever chemical’ with a difficult-to-pronounce name like trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) have in common? Nothing, at least in an ideal world. Unfortunately, reality paints a different picture.

Healthy soils are essential for life, providing the foundation for 95% of the food we eat. They filter and store water, help plants grow and are critical to the long-term resilience and stability of farmer’s livelihoods, especially in the face of increasing extreme weather events. Currently, over 60% of soils are undergoing degradation processes.

Aquatic ecosystems are home to a wide range of species and are vital for society and economic activities, yet they are under immense pressure from anthropogenic impact. More than 20 years after agreeing on the EU’s main water law, the Water Framework Directive, only one-third of Europe’s surface water bodies are in good chemical status. While the reported status of groundwater is slightly better, large regional differences reflect varied levels of monitoring efforts among Member States.

PAN Europe highlights that EFSA being strictly independent as an EU scientific agency is crucial for decisions on protecting health and the environment from pesticides. Known risks from synthetic pesticides include cancer, endocrine disruption and neurodegenerative diseases, even at low doses. In 2009, the EU enacted Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 to prevent exposure to harmful pesticides and protect the environment.

The EU Pesticide Regulation (1107/2009) is, in theory, one of the strictest regulations in the world. To guarantee a high level of protection, it requires that pesticides and their residues have no harmful effects on human health and animal health and no unacceptable effects on the environment. While many potentially harmful pesticides are still on the EU market, others got banned from the EU food production thanks to this strict regulation’s requirement.

While it is now notorious that PFAS are used in diverse consumer products (such as frying pans, textiles, food packaging etc), it is less well known that PFAS pesticides are intentionally sprayed on food crops. Yet, food is a systematic and direct route of exposure to PFAS pesticides for citizens. 37 pesticide active substances approved in the European Union are PFAS according to EU regulators. Some are persistent themselves and others break down into persistent metabolites, such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA).

“Plant protection products – data requirements and gradual review of safeners and synergists.”

Summary : According to EU Regulation on Pesticides (Reg. (EC) 1107/2009), pesticides placed on the EU market should have no harmful effects to human and animal health and no unacceptable effects to the environment (Art.1 & 4). This concerns pesticide products and all their ingredients including active substances, safeners, synergists and co-formulants.

The Pesticide Network Europe (PAN Europe) welcomes the European Commission’s long overdue (9 years) draft Regulation defining data requirements for the approval of safeners and synergists and establishing a work programme for the gradual review of safeners and synergists in the EU market. This is crucial to eliminate the discrepancies in methodologies and level of protection that exist between Member States when assessing safeners and synergists.

Glyphosate is the active substance of the most used pesticide (herbicide) products globally: glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). They are used widely to kill plants, leading to their widespread presence in our ecosystems, surroundings and bodies.