Exposure to pesticides is bad for your health!

You may have thought that it was generally acknowledged that continual exposure to pesticides is bad for you. It seems obvious doesn't it, a chemical that is designed to kill couldn't possibly safe, a chemical that bears a hazardous poison symbol couldn't but have an effect on the lives of those who live near treated areas. Yet this is what the British government have been claiming.

This week UK campaigner Georgina Downs won her legal challenge against DEFRA (Department for Environment and Rural Affairs) over pesticides. From the age of 11 Downs had been suffering from ill health and as an adult she started to investigate the effects pesticides could be having on her. Living in a rural area, surrounded by farmland she would have been repeatedly exposed to pesticides from a very early age. The flaw in the governments case was that their data on the effects of pesticides only assessed the risk posed to Human beings by short term exposure to chemicals. It did not consider the continual exposure that country residents could experience or the effect that a cocktail of chemicals sprayed throughout the year could have on the human body.

The ruling comes as the British government stands to oppose the EU directive on pesticides which calls for:

the prohibition of pesticide use in substantial no spray zones around residential areas, parks, public gardens, sports grounds, school grounds, playgrounds, amongst other places, especially to protect sensitive groups, such as, babies, children, pregnant women, the elderly, those with pre-existing medical conditions and who may be taking medication, along with all other vulnerable groups.

A directive, which seems to support the court ruling and which will hopefully, hand in hand with this judgement encourage the British government to review the way they asses the harmful effects of pesticides. Sadly, even if the new directive is passed, it won't come into effect until 2010.

Further reading:
UK Pesticides Campaign
PAN UK on pesticide exposure

Why Organic Strawberries?

I've really been enjoying this seasons strawberries, every week they seem to be getting sweeter and more full of flavour.

If you are living near to Enniscorthy don't miss out on the chance to visit the Wexford Strawberry Festival next weekend. It kicks off on Wednesday the 25th with a Strawberry Ball and goes on until the 29th of June. It would be worth going just on the chance of being able to sample the Organic Strawberries produced locally at the Wexford Organic Centre. 

So why should we choose organic strawberries? 

Thankfully one of the most devastating chemicals used in Strawberry production, Methyl Bromide was phased out in 2005. According to the Environmental Protection Agency the chemical was used as a pesticide both to sterilise the land before planting and after harvesting. Apart from the obvious concerns of chemical residue on the fruit itself it was found that Methyl Bromide was having a devastating effect on the ozone layer. It is also sited in the Environmental Protection Agencies Draft Guidance Note for Ozone Depleting Substances as being responsible for the deaths of some pesticide appliers. 

Unfortunately Methyl Bromide was only one of 50 chemicals that is listed by the Pesticides Action Network as being routinely used on Strawberry crops. I picked two at random from their list: Methomyl which when taken orally, inhaled or absorbed through the skin can cause symptoms which:

may include weakness, blurred vision, headache, nausea, abdominal cramps, chest discomfort, constriction of pupils, sweating, muscle tremors, and decreased pulse. If there is severe poisoning, symptoms of twitching, giddiness, confusion, muscle incoordination, slurred speech, low blood pressure, heart irregularities, and loss of reflexes may also be experienced - source extoxnet

And Thiophanate-methyl which although not anywhere near as toxic as Methomyl does cause skin and eye irritation.

So if you aren't lucky enough to be able to source organic strawberries on your doorstep try to buy from a small local supplier who is less likely to have used the full spectrum of chemicals and will be able to tell you exactly how they are grown.

Better still, why not try and grow your own next year!

European Parliament Vote On Pesticides

I received an email from the Soil Association this week asking for my help on this issue. I am including the full text of the email. I'll be blogging more later this week, I just thought this was an issue well worth drawing your attention to. 

Just a thought but if the EU votes in favour of these restrictions are they admitting that pesticides are bad for our health?

Dear friend

I am writing to ask you urgently to email or write to your MEP about some European legislation on pesticides that the European Parliament will vote on in a plenary session on around 23 October. As with many environmental and food safety issues, crucial decisions affecting all of us are now taken at European level, and pesticide safety is no exception. The European Commission are introducing new, Europe-wide laws on pesticides, and there is a chance that these will actually strengthen protection of the public from dangerous sprays.

The European Parliament's Environment Committee has agreed several key amendments to the proposed law, but these now have to be agreed by the European Parliament, and all MEPs have a vote. The chemical industry and the UK's National Farmers' Union are lobbying hard to have all these changes rejected by the Parliament, while Georgina Downs of UK Pesticides Campaign, who initiated many of these proposals, has been working to have them accepted. I have listed below five of the key amendments that the MEPs will have to agree or reject. If you feel any of these are important, and should be agreed by the European Parliament, please let your MEP know. You can find your MEP's name and contact details at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=en

Many thanks to all of you who asked Gordon Brown 'to Wake Up!' to the benefits of organic food and farming, by feeding him an organic breakfast. It is still not to late to join in if you haven't already done so - we'll be reporting the number of hits to the Prime Minister - open this link to play and email it on to your friends and colleagues:
http://www.soilassociation.org/wakeupgordon

Best wishes,

Emma

Emma Hockridge
Campaigner
The Soil Association
0117 914 2433 / ehockridge@soilassociation.org

Prohibiting pesticide use in and around public areas like people's homes, hospitals, public parks, playgrounds and schools
The Environment Committee voted in favour of an amendment to prohibit pesticide use in and around public areas, including residential areas, parks, public gardens, sports and recreation grounds, school grounds, playgrounds, and in the vicinity of public healthcare facilities (clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, health resorts, hospices), particularly, although not exclusively, to protect sensitive groups, such as, babies, children, pregnant women, embryos and foetuses, the elderly, those with pre-existing medical conditions and who may be taking medication, along with all other vulnerable groups. The amendment also specified that the no-spray zones should be substantial and that in all these areas non-chemical alternatives should be used.

Vulnerable groups to include residents subject to high pesticide exposure over the long term
The Environment Committee voted in favour of an amendment that described vulnerable groups as: “Persons needing specific consideration when assessing the acute and chronic health effects of plant protection products. These include pregnant and nursing women, embryos, and fetuses, infants and children, the elderly, people who are ill and those taking medication, workers and residents subject to high pesticide exposure over the long term.”

Residents to have the right to know what is being sprayed next to where they live
Environment Committee voted in favour of an obligation to inform residents and neighbours about pesticide spraying in their locality, as well as the requirement for farmers and other pesticide users to provide information on the pesticides used directly to residents and neighbours who request access to it.

Call a pesticide a pesticide (not a 'plant protection product'!)
The Environment Committee voted in favour of an amendment to change the entire terminology used throughout the adopted text, including the title, from 'Plant Protection Products' to 'pesticides'. The term 'plant protection products' attempts to put a positive spin on chemicals that are deliberately designed to be toxic. The use of this wording throughout the Commission’s proposal, including the title, was inappropriate as many members of the public will not be familiar with this terminology, and its use could lead to confusion amongst members of the public.

Give priority to ways of growing healthy crops without using pesticides
The Environment Committee also voted in favour of a number of amendments for the prioritization of non-chemical methods of plant protection and pest and crop management. The only real solution to eliminate the adverse impacts of pesticides is to take a preventative approach with the widespread adoption of truly sustainable non-chemical and natural methods of plant protection and pest and crop management (including rotation, physical and mechanical control and natural predator management), as happens in organic systems. This protects not only public health, but animals, wildlife, air, water, soil, food and the wider environment. Reliance on complex chemicals designed to kill plants, insects or other forms of life, cannot be classified as sustainable.

To find your local MEP go to:- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=en

If you would like more detailed information on the European proposals you can contact Georgina Downs of UK Pesticides Campaign who has prepared a briefing for MEPs http://www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk/