Pesticides in the environment, on the plate and in the human body. In the unacceptable omission of the dutiful toxicological assessments of the cumulative and additive effects of the agrotoxin cocktails used in conventional agriculture, we are all the guinea pigs of Big 4, the monopolists of poisons and seeds. Time to stop the timer.
Pesticides, PAN Europe’s appeal.
More than a quarter of foods marketed in Europe contain residues of two or more pesticides, according to the latest annual report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). And the situation is much worse for some commodities. Summer fruits (currants, cherries, strawberries, and bananas), for example, are polluted by varied pesticide cocktails in more than 60 percent of cases.
‘The absence of safetyassessment on pesticide mixtures in our food not only fails to meet the requirements of EU rules, but also exposes consumers’ health to risk, with clear violation of human rights’ (PAN Europe, press release 4.7.19). (1)
For fourteen years now, European legislation on pesticides has prescribed toxicological examination of their cumulative and synergistic effects. (2) Nevertheless, the European Commission continues to omit the requirement for the required chemical safety risk analyses. Tolerating the use of combinations of pesticides subject to approvals that are instead based on assessments of the effects of individual molecules. Not to mention, precisely, the impact of their mixes on ecosystems, humans and children, and animals( includingbees ).
Pesticides, a deadly cocktail
EFSA’s latest report on pesticide residues in food (3), published on 6/26/19 and based on fruit and vegetable samples collected in 2017 in all EU member states, reconfirms the worrying findings of previous years. Worrisome in Europe, first and foremost, where even though there are far more stringent consumer health protection rules than in non-European countries. As seen in the recent examples of the US, Canada and Brazil.
Slightly more than half (54%) of the foods tested are free of pesticide residues. But more than one in four (27.5%) contains 2 or more agrotoxic residues. A threat composed of 353 molecules. 62 percent of samples-2 out of 3-of conventional (non-organic) European fruits and nuts contain pesticides.
The presence of mixtures of two or more pesticide residues affects 70 percent of currant and blackberry samples and more than 60 percent of cherries, strawberries, lettuce, arugula, and bananas. But whether, how and how much the interaction between molecules can amplify their toxicity is yet to be determined, in the absence of assessment of their safety. In surface and groundwater, moreover, those highly toxic substances that have been banned for decades still remain. Such as DDT, atrazine and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
A threat to fertility
Consumption of pesticide-contaminated foods is correlated with reduced fertility. Because of thewide occurrence of endocrine disruptors, in ‘plant protection’ products such as MOCAs and materials used in thousands of everyday items. Among the most dangerous agrotoxics, PAN Europe, reports:
– chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic insecticide that affects brain development in children, is among the most prevalent in food produced in Europe, often exceeding the maximum allowable limits (as found in 400 samples),
– boscalid, an endocrine disrupting fungicide, according to the Commission’s 2016 impact assessment. Appears among the top 5 pesticides detected, but should be banned, according to European standards, (4)
– glyphosate, the active ingredient devised by Monsanto (now Bayer), classified as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). It is often detected in lentils (42 percent), barley (23.5 percent) and peas (25 percent ) and in honey, even above ‘safe’ limits.
‘Exposure to pesticide mixtures has increased in recent years, and while institutions have been promising-for more than a decade-to develop an evaluation protocol for mixtures, consumers have become guinea pigs. We call on our legislators to introduce an additional safety requirement for mixtures now. And to stop pretending that chemical mixtures are safe‘. (Angeliki Lysimachou, chief science officer of PAN Europe, 4.7.19)
We join this heartfelt appeal, calling on the new European Commission and national government authorities to take action without further delay to ensure public health and environmental protection.
We renew our invitation – to consumAtors, as well as supply chain and civil society representatives – to join the #Buycott campaign! Stop! palm oil, GMO soy and animal products coming from the American continent. #NotInOurNames,!#NotInOurNames, let’s stop the demand for the products that come from venefic and abusive human rights supply chains!
#Égalité!
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) PAN Europe, founded in 1987, brings together 38 consumer, public health and environmental organizations, trade unions, women’s groups and farmers’ associations from across Europe. It is part of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN), a network of more than 600 nongovernmental organizations, institutions and individuals founded in 1982 and active on 5 continents, in more than 60 countries. To minimize the negative effects of agrotoxics and replace them with ecologically sound and socially just alternatives.
(2) See reg. EC 396/05 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in food and feed, as amended
(3) See The 2017 European Union report on pesticide residues in food https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/5743
(4) See reg. EC 1107/09 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, as amended. Annex II 3.6.5 and 3.8.2
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
