Neonicotinoid insecticides pose not only a serious threat to biodiversity, but also to human health. Already in small doses they can affect the developing brain of young children. France is trying to reintroduce acetamiprid, while we asked the EU to take swift action and to initiate a review protocol to ban this neurotoxic substance and protect health and environment.
Initially presented by the pesticides industry as toxic only to insects and harmless to humans, research continues to reveal the dangers of neonicotinoids. We now know they are nerve toxins that can reach and impact the human brain. One of them still allowed is acetamiprid, although the EU is currently re-assessing its toxicity, following major new scientific findings and letters from PAN Europe pointing at the dangers for young children and the unborn. We asked for a full and final ban on acetamiprid and all other neonics. A worrying development is that France—the only EU country to have banned acetamiprid—is now debating its reintroduction at national level. A shameful regression, strongly contested by our French member Générations Futures, scientists and other organisations.
What is Acetamiprid? What are neonicotinoids?
Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide used in agriculture to kill pests. Neonicotinoids work by targeting the insects' nervous system, causing paralysis and death. They are one of the main causes of mass bee deaths worldwide, endangering our food security, agricultural economy and the environment.
Although acetamiprid has been considered less toxic than other neonicotinoids to bees and mammals, recent studies show that it is also very dangerous to humans, especially for unborn babies and young children.
How does Acetamiprid affect human health?
In many ways. New scientific evidence shows that neonicotinoids like acetamiprid can favour breast cancer, due to its endocrine disruption property, and may lead to infertility. [1]
They can also affect our brain. Neonicotinoids cross the placental barrier and the brain barrier, putting unborn children at risk. Acetamiprid has been detected in umbilical cords, breast milk and even in children's cerebrospinal fluid. It has been shown to concentrate at high levels in mice fetuses' brains upon mother exposure. [2]
Moreover, acetamiprid could have a nicotine-like effect on children’s brains, which is particularly worrying. We already know that chronic exposure to nicotine causes many adverse effects on the normal development of a child. The exposure to nicotine of the unborn is a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome, low-birth-weight, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, as well as numerous behavioral and physiological deficits. [3]
Where can we find it?
Everywhere. In the European Union, some neonicotinoids have been banned, but acetamiprid remains authorised in all EU countries but France. We can also find it in gardening products that anyone can buy in shops in many EU countries where the sale of dangerous pesticides to the general public is not yet limited.
Neonicotinoids dissolve in water and are absorbed by plants, making the plants themselves - as well as their nectar, pollen and fruits - toxic. They do not disappear from fruit and vegetables when washed.
Following a letter from PAN Europe, providing the new scientific evidence on their potential harm to the unborn, the EU lowered the maximum permitted levels of acetamiprid in food. [4] However, levels above 0.5 mg/kg are maintained in products such as honey, citrus fruits, loquats, cherries, berries and table olives. This does not seem to be a sufficiently protective measure, bearing in mind that scientific tests show that low doses acetamiprid and other neonicotinoids cause cognitive impairment in rats.
How are we exposed ?
We find pesticides as residues in our food. They can also be dispersed from fields by air and dust in a wide area. They can damage health and entire ecosystems. A study in the apple growing region in South Tyrol in Italy found pesticides, including acetamiprid, all over the valleys up to the nature reserves high up in the mountains. Due to their water solubility, they are very mobile and move with water masses outside the fields, contaminating wild flowers next to arable land, and contaminating organic crops via soil water mobility.
What is the discussion in France?
Acetamiprid has been banned in France since 2018. Last January, the French Senate voted to allow the derogatory reintroduction of acetamiprid. The measure, taken on an exceptional basis, is supposed to provide relief for certain sectors, such as beet and hazelnut growing. The French senate, dominated by an alliance between the right and the centrists, adopted this much-criticised measure. [5] However, in their report “Return to the past”, our member Générations Futures concludes that there is no excessive restriction of pesticides used in France as stated by the industry lobby.
What could the EU do?
The EU took the important step of lowering acetamiprid levels in food, following letters and evidence sent by PAN Europe. However, it should ban acetamiprid and lower the maximum permitted levels of all neonicotinoids to protect the unborn and children. Furthermore, it is urgent to introduce proper neurotoxicity tests for all pesticides.
Read more:
- PAN Europe webpage on acetamiprid
- Neurotoxic pesticides affect children’s brain: global restrictions urgently needed
- Retour vers le passé (Back to the past), report from Générations Futures, November 2024
- Neurotoxicity of Pesticides, letter to EU Commissioner Kyriakides 8 June 2023
- Pesticides do not remain in the valley, they go up the mountains
Notes:
[1] Neonicotinoid insecticides promote breast cancer progression via G protein-coupled estrogen receptor: In vivo, in vitro and in silico studies - Science Direct, December 2022
[2] Scientific Opinion on the developmental neurotoxicity potential of acetamiprid and imidacloprid, EFSA Journal, 17 December 2023
[3] Nicotine-Like Effects of the Neonicotinoid Insecticides Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid on Cerebellar Neurons from Neonatal Rats, Kimura-Kuroda et al. 2012
[4] Call to endorse the new ADI and ARfD values of acetamiprid and to support the Commission’s proposal to adjust its MRLs accordingly, PAN Europe, September 2024
[5] Agriculture: the Senate votes to reintroduce neonicotinoids on a derogation basis, Le Monde, 15 January 2025
