September - November 2005
1. PAN Europe activities
PAN Europe Annual Network Conference
“Towards better environment, health and rural economies: prospects
for pesticide dependency reduction in CEECs”, 7-9 November,
Krakow, Poland
The 2005 Annual Network Conference attracted 56 participants from
19 different countries. 30 non governmental, not-for-profit organisations
were represented in the conference, including farmers’ associations,
environmental and environmental health organisations, women’s
groups and nature conservation organisations. The Network Annual
General Meeting welcomed 8 new full and associated members to the
network. PAN Europe network now counts 25 full and associate members.
New timetable for adoption of EU pesticide legislation
A package containing the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use
of Pesticides, the revision of the Authorisations Directive and
a new Directive on use reporting will be ideally adopted by the
EC in late spring 2006. The 3 proposals will have to be approved
by co-decision procedure and will be discussed during the Finnish
Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2006.
The Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, prepared
by DG Environment, is ready and is now going through an inter-service
consultation among other DGs. The proposal contains few mandatory
measures and leaves aside many of the most polemical measures. There
will be mandatory national plans to reduce risk and dependency but
the measures will have to be chosen by each MS from among a set
of proposed measures listed in the Thematic Strategy. The countries
will have 2 years to present a plan, after preparing a background
document and consulting stakeholders and the public. The overall
quality of the national plans will be checked by the EC but the
National Steering Committees (which will incorporate NGOs) will
have a very important role in the preparation and implementation
of the plans.
The revision of Authorizations Directive (Directive 91/414/EC) received
substantial changes since the public consultation was held in May
2005. There will be a completely new Extended Impact Assessment
(EIA) report in January 2006 followed by a stakeholders meeting
in Brussels and a short period for comments. The previous EIA focusing
on the Thematic Strategy and entitled “Assessing economic
impacts of the specific measures to be part of the Thematic Strategy
on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides”, completely failed to
assess benefits from a quantitative dependency/use reduction target
and was the target of strong criticism by PAN Europe and other NGOs.
PAN Europe calls for in this EIA for the quantification of external
impacts of pesticide use in environment and health and a strong
call for the removal from the market of the most hazardous pesticides
and the substitution by less hazardous/non-chemical alternatives.
The final EIA report will be finalised in February and the Commission
proposal will incorporate its findings before going to inter-service
consultation.
Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe (PURE) Working Group
Meeting, 12-13 October, Brussels
The last PURE working group meeting was held in Brussels, 12-13
October and had 16 participants from 14 different organisations
in all regions in Europe. The meeting focussed on developing an
NGO strategy for the coming months, when the legislation package
composed by Thematic Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides,
revision of Authorisations Directive and a new Directive on Use
Reporting will be adopted by the Commission.
New PAN Europe Briefings
Two new briefings entitled: “Endocrine disrupting pesticides:
concerns about vinclozolin and procymidone” and “Methyl
bromide: phase out and alternatives” were published in October.
2. Published news and information
Approval of active ingredients in EU review
3 new actives were added to Annex 1, the list of substances authorised
in EU: 1-methylcyclopropene, a post-harvest treatment on apples;
indoxacarb, an insecticide; forchlorfenuron, a growth regulator
on kiwi fruit.
2 existing actives were also added to Annex 1: warfarin, a rodenticide
(acute toxic, developmental or reproductive toxin); tolylfluanid,
a fungicide (carcinogenic).
Health and Environment Standing Committee of European
Doctors Declaration (CPME 2005/100) on chemicals and health
A new declaration on the link between chemical products and the
appearance of diseases, such as cancers, infertility, degenerative
diseases of the central nervous system and allergies was adopted
by the Standing Committee of European Doctors, a non-governmental
organisation with 28 members and voicing the most representative
national medical organisation from Europe. Doctors have stated that
the current proliferation of a number of diseases is a consequence
of environmental degradation and that chemical pollution poses a
serious threat to children and to the human race. Doctors call for
mandatory substitution principle in respect of all highly suspicious
chemicals and precautionary principle as a guide for action taken
by European health professionals. Doctors also acknowledge establishing
links between environmental indicators and health indicators is
one of the major problems facing the field of environmental health.
The declaration, drafted with specific reference to REACH (Registration,
Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) has important consequence
for pesticides, as many of the pesticides in the EU market contain
one or several hazard categories such as carcinogenic, mutagenic,
reprotoxic, hormone disruptors or neurotoxic.
Assessing potential exposure of birds to pesticide-treated
seeds
Seed treatments are widely used for crop protection and present
a particular risk to granivorous birds. UK risk assessment for seed
treatments has tended to focus on highly granivorous species; however,
under some conditions, non-granivorous birds will take seeds. Better
data is needed on which species eat seeds for which pesticide treatments
are used. To identify which species will take and eat a range of
crop seeds in common usage in the UK, birds visiting bait stations
at which untreated seed was presented were video recorded. Information
was also obtained on how much seed is taken by individual birds.
The seeds tested were wheat, barley, maize, oilseed rape, grass,
peas and pelleted sugar beet. For many of the species observed at
the bait stations, the amounts of seed consumed during single visits
were sufficient to pose a potential risk (toxicity-exposure ratio<10)
if the seed had been treated with one of the more acutely toxic
seed treatments. Previous studies have shown that de-husking of
seeds can substantially reduce birds' exposure. This paper provides
information on which of the species recorded de-husked which seeds,
in field conditions. The use of these data in pesticide risk assessment
is considered.
Pesticide exposure of non-occupationally exposed subjects
compared to some occupational exposure: A French pilot study
Data about non-dietary exposure to different chemical classes of
pesticides are scarce, especially in France. Our objective was to
assess residential pesticide exposure of non-occupationally exposed
adults, and to compare it with occupational exposure of subjects
working indoors. Twenty unexposed persons, five gardeners, seven
florists and nine veterinary workers living in Paris area were recruited.
Nineteen residences, two greenhouses, three florist shops and three
veterinary departments were then sampled. Thirty-eight insecticides,
herbicides and fungicides were measured in indoor air with an air
sampler for 24 hours and on hands by wiping them with isopropanol-wetted
swabs.
Seventeen different pesticides were detected at least once in indoor
air and twenty-one on the hands. An average of 4.2+/-1.7 different
pesticides was detected per indoor air sample. The organochlorines
lindane, alpha-endosulfan and alpha-HCH were the most frequently
detected compounds, in 97%, 69% and 38% of the samples, respectively.
The organophosphates dichlorvos and fenthion, the carbamate propoxur
and the herbicides atrazine and alachlor were detected in more than
20% of the air samples.
Indoor air concentrations were often low, but could reach 200-300
ng/m(3) in residences for atrazine and propoxur. Propoxur levels
significantly differed between the air of veterinary places and
other places and dieldrin levels between residences and workplaces.
There was a greater number of pesticides on hands than in air, with
an average of 6.3+/-3.3 different pesticides detected per sample,
the most frequently detected being malathion, lindane and trifluralin,
in more than 60% of the subjects.
Maximal levels (up to 1000-3000 ng/hands) were observed either
in the general population or in workers, depending on the pesticide.
However, no significant difference was observed between workers
and general population hand wipe pesticide levels. As expected,
gardeners were exposed to pesticides sprayed in greenhouses. Florists
and veterinary workers, whose pesticide exposure had not been described
until now, were also indirectly exposed to pesticides used for former
pest control operations. Overall, general population was exposed
to more various pesticides and at levels sometimes higher than in
occupational places. The most frequent pesticides in residences
were not the same as in US studies but levels were similar. These
preliminary results need to be confirmed in a greater number of
residences from different parts of the country, in order to better
assess pesticide exposure of the general population and its influencing
factors.
Portugal regulator fines Abbott, Bayer, others for
price fixing
Portugal's antitrust regulator said it had fined five major US and
European drug companies a total of 16 mln euro for working together
to artificially fix prices. The five firms – Abbott Laboratories
and Johnson & Johnson of the United States, Germany's Bayer
AG, Italy's Menarini Diagnosticos and Switzerland's Pharmaceutica
Quimica – formed a cartel during 36 bidding processes to supply
22 hospitals in Portugal, it said. The goal of the companies was
to 'prevent, restrict or falsify in a significant way competition
by fixing prices', the competition authority said in a statement.
Abbott Laboratories was hit with the largest fine, 6.8 mln euros,
for 34 infractions while Johnson & Johnson, which cooperated
with antitrust regulator in its investigation, received the smallest
fine, it added. The firm will have to pay 360,000 euro for 36 infractions.
The antitrust regulator opened its investigation after a public
hospital in Coimbra, Portugal's third-largest city, complained that
the five firms had all proposed the same price for the same drug.
Pesticides found in a third of foods in the UK
A third of the foods in the UK contain traces of pesticides, government-backed
tests reveal say for which period the data comes, I presume you
mean the latest quarterly report, but most fall within legal limits.
The chemicals were found in 31% of 3,854 foodstuffs analysed, including
fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread and drink from 24 UK cities.
However, in 42 of the samples - about 1% - levels were above legal
limits.
The Pesticide Residues Committee said their findings were reassuring.
But campaigners said they would like to see more precautionary measures
to reduce levels of contamination. Thirty-nine of the 42 samples
containing levels above the legal limit were either fruit or vegetables.
The others included a sample of infant food and two samples of oats.
Five of the pesticides detected originated from within the UK and
37 were from outside the UK.
Barbara Dinham, director of the Pesticide Action Network, said:
"The fact that only about 1% of the samples had levels above
legal limits is to be welcomed… However, we would like to
see more precautionary measures and a downward trend… "Some
pesticides have an accumulative effect and can be damaging to health."
Organic Diets Lower Children's Dietary Exposure to
Common Agriculture Pesticides
A study led by an Emory University researcher concludes that an
organic diet given to children provides a "dramatic and immediate
protective effect" against exposures to two pesticides that
are commonly used in U.S. agricultural production. The results were
published on a recent online version of the scientific journal Environmental
Health Perspectives (EHP).
Over a fifteen-day period, Dr. Chensheng "Alex" Lu and
his colleagues from Emory University, the University of Washington,
and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention specifically
measured the exposure of two organophosphate pesticides (OP) - malathion
and chlorpyrifos - in 23 elementary students in the Seattle area
by testing their urine. The participants, ages 3-11-years-old, were
first monitored for three days on their conventional diets before
the researchers substituted most of the children's conventional
diets with organic food items for five consecutive days. The children
were then re-introduced to their normal foods and monitored for
an additional seven days. Former research has linked organophosphate
pesticides to causes of neurological effects in animals and humans.
“Immediately after substituting organic food items for the
children's normal diets, the concentration of the organophosphate
pesticides found in their bodies decreased substantially to non-detectable
levels until the conventional diets were re-introduced," says
Dr. Lu, an assistant professor in the department of environmental
and occupational health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory
University. During the days when children consumed organic diets,
most of their urine samples contained zero concentration for the
malathion metabolite. However, once the children returned to their
conventional diets, the average malathion metabolite concentration
increased to 1.6 parts per billion with a concentration range from
5 to 263 parts per billion. A similar trend was observed for chlorpyrifos:
average chlorpyrifos metabolite concentration increased from one
part per billion during the organic diet days to six parts per billion
when children consumed conventional food.
“Recent regulatory changes aiming to minimize children's
exposures to pesticides have either banned or restricted the use
of many organophosphorus pesticides in the residential environment.
However, fewer restrictions have been imposed in agriculture,"
Dr. Lu says. According to the annual survey by U.S. Department of
Agriculture Pesticide Data Program, organophosphate pesticide residues
are still routinely detected in food items that are commonly consumed
by young children.
Survey: Chemical Industry's Product Responsibility
Still in Short Supply
Imperial Chemical Industries and the two German chemical groups
BASF and Degussa have the edge over their competitors in the chemical
industry when it comes to acting responsibly toward society and
the environment, according to a recent industry survey. The rating
agency oekom research took a close look at 23 companies from nine
countries and, against almost 200 criteria, assessed how they cope
with social challenges and environmental risks.
On average, the companies achieve higher ratings on social issues
than on environmental issues. The analysts are critical above all
of the generally poor efforts to record and evaluate substance risks
or to develop environmentally sustainable replacement substances.
oekom research acknowledges, on the other hand, that the entire
industry has made significant progress in areas which have been
focal points of public concern for many years, for example in occupational
safety or in plant and transport safety.
"As a rule, companies provide little or no information about
the substances examined and assessed by them," says Oliver
Ruedel, analyst at oekom research and author of the industry report.
The lack of transparency is just one indication of the fact that
the industry is still far from managing chemicals in a way that
meets health requirements and is environmentally sustainable. The
mainly critical stance of the industry toward the EU programme for
the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals (REACH)
is further evidence of the industry's limited willingness to show
greater commitment toward product responsibility.
Ruedel summarizes the results of the industry analysis: "From
such a complex and risk-laden industry as the chemical industry
I expected greater transparency overall in the treatment of information
and data. This was an opportunity for the companies not only to
enhance their credibility but also to increase confidence in their
products. Of the 23 companies looked at, we can recommend only seven
for investment to our customers."
The status of pesticide pollution in surface waters
(rivers and lakes) of Greece. Part I. Review on occurrence and levels
This review evaluates and summarizes the results of long-term research
projects, monitoring programs and published papers concerning the
pollution of surface waters (rivers and lakes) of Greece by pesticides.
Pesticide classes mostly detected involve herbicides used extensively
in maize, cotton and rice production, organophosphate insecticides
as well as the banned organochlorines insecticides due to their
persistence in the aquatic environment. The compounds most frequently
detected were atrazine, simazine, alachlor, metolachlor and trifluralin
of the herbicides, diazinon, parathion methyl of the insecticides
and lindane, endosulfan and aldrin of the organochlorine pesticides.
Rivers were found to be more polluted than lakes. The detected concentrations
of most pesticides follow a seasonal variation, with maximum values
occurring during the late spring and summer period followed by a
decrease during winter. Nationwide, in many cases the reported concentrations
ranged in low parts per billion (ppb) levels. However, elevated
concentrations were recorded in areas of high pesticide use and
intense agricultural practices. Generally, similar trends and levels
of pesticides were found in Greek rivers compared to pesticide contamination
in other European rivers. Monitoring of the Greek water resources
for pesticide residues must continue, especially in agricultural
regions, because the nationwide patterns of pesticide use are constantly
changing. Moreover, emphasis should be placed on degradation products
not sufficiently studied so far.
3. News from PAN Europe partners
Integrated Pest Management in a school
Parents of students from the primary-secondary school “Proa”,
in Catalunya, learnt that fumigation with cypermethrin in an open
space was carried out in the school in order to eradicate a “wood
pest” (no more information was provided). The theme was debated
in the parent’s assembly at the school, with the school Board
and with the school committee for health and safety. The school
took the decision to cancel further fumigations and start applying
Integrated Pest Management in the school grounds. The pest was later
identified as Nacerdes melanaura, which has a larval phase as potentially
dangerous, when it feeds on humid wood and might cause the deterioration
of buildings. Similar IPM projects have been carried out in USA
and European countries for some years, making use of reduction strategies.
Many of them were a reaction to evidence of serious accidents that
have affected the health of children and teenagers, as well as teachers
and school staff.
In Proa school, parents who are working in the areas of prevention
and/or environment, started to apply the principles of IPM. The
first step was to revise the plan of disinfestation (the school
had subcontracted to a pest control company) and gather the committee
of health and safety from the school to start a safe approach to
managing this pest. The use of all chemical products was suspended
and a meeting on biocides was held in the Centre for Safety at Work,
a public organisation from Catalunya, and organised by professionals
in that area. Some preventive measures started to be taken: a net
to prevent nesting of pigeons, ultra-sounds to prevent access by
cats. Another step was to use the health and safety audits to detect
what factors encourage the development of the pest. Finally, an
instrumental step was to inform about the problem and the IPM solutions.
An article was published in the school magazine with references
of web sites where one could find more information.
Dozens of toxic pesticides released in a pesticide
formulating factory blaze in southern France
A fire started on June 27th 2005 at 3am in the SBM pesticide formulating
factory in Béziers, southern France. The factory, which stored
around 1,800 tons of various pesticides and was classified a high
risk “SEVESO II” industrial site, was entirely destroyed
by the fire in a few hours. An ill smelling cloud rose high in the
sky and was pushed by a slight wind coming from the sea towards
distant cities like Narbonne and Carcassonne where a filthy, sulphur-like
smell was perceived. According to the local authorities, the surrounding
populations had no reason to fear any health threat whatsoever.
But in Béziers, about 150 people had to go to hospital in
the hours following the fire, suffering of irritated and sore eyes
and throat or dizziness. Two weeks after the fire, the population
learned that toxic chemicals as carbon disulfur, cyanhydric acid
or bromic acid were analysed in the fumes. It was not before 15th
July that an incomplete list of the substances stored in the SBM
site was communicated to the public. However, the local official
representative (the “Prefet”), kept on with his reassuring
communication and promised that a risk evaluation would be released
by… mid October!
The French NGO MDRGF decided that the people from Beziers and the
surroundings had the right to know to what extent their environment
and their health had been affected. With the support of an independent
laboratory (Analytika, which analysed the oil of the Erika tanker
in 1999) we had samples of soil and leaves from the surroundings
of the factory analysed. By mid September, the results were available:
procymidone, iprodione and 15 other dangerous chemicals were found
in the soil sample! A large press campaign was organised, with the
regional newspapers making their headlines on the news: “Toxic
pollutants found close to the SBM factory”. Under the pressure
of the media, the mayor released the results of the analysis the
town of Beziers had secretly ordered. It concluded that the exposure
of the population to the various chemicals was too low to present
any risk for the local population. The MDRGF had to communicate
again and stress that, according to these official results, dioxins
were found everywhere around the site, along with 59 various pesticides!
We revealed that, among these pesticides, 19 were potentially carcinogenic,
23 were neurotoxics, 12 were potential endocrine disruptors, 4 were
potentially toxic for development or reproduction and one was a
suspected mutagen! Moreover, we found that 24 of these pesticides
were not authorised for use in France! The fight is now raging between
the NGOs and the officials as everybody is waiting for the official
exposure and risk evaluation by the official INERIS institute, due
to be published October 19th.
Report on bystander exposure by the UK Royal Commission
on Environment
Pesticide Action Network UK recently welcomed an important new report
by the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) report
‘Crop spraying and the health of residents and bystanders’.
The Royal Commission’s key finding is that, ‘Based on
the conclusions from our visits and our understanding of the biological
mechanisms with which pesticides interact, it is plausible that
there could be a link between residents and bystander pesticide
exposure and chronic ill health. We find that we are not able to
rule out this possibility. We recommend that a more precautionary
approach is taken with passive exposure to pesticides.’
PAN UK believes this report will prove influential. PAN UK welcomes
the endorsement, in this report, of the longstanding recommendation
that the surveillance of ill-health effects from pesticides should
pass from the UK Health & Safety Executive to the new Health
Protection Agency. PAN UK will be campaigning hard to ensure that
the costs to human health of pesticides fall on the agrochemical
industry, under the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
The Royal Commission is recommending that we should have the right
to know which pesticides we are being exposed to: neighbours and
residents should be given prior notification of which pesticides
are to be used, and signs should be placed on site at potential
access points. Walkers and everyone who uses the countryside, and
health researchers, should be able to find out which toxins have
been applied to the land and are contaminating our bodies. PAN UK
anticipates that this new access to knowledge will be fiercely resisted
by all those who have an interest in keeping it secret.
The role of government scientists in defending poor science has
been exposed. Of the UK government’s Pesticides Safety Directorate’s
risk assessment for bystander exposure, the report says ‘We
have been disappointed to find that the current approach has not
been rigorously evaluated under field conditions and has largely
been assessed in relation to experiments done on a limited scale
over twenty years ago and reassessed on the basis of other data
often collected for different purposes in Germany and the US.’
It is scandalous that the ACP defended bad science and dismissed
campaigners’ perceptions.
PAN UK urges the government to act on the Royal Commission’s
recommendations and to:
• introduce a new surveillance scheme for pesticide-related
disease, to be run by the Health Protection Agency, the cost of
which (estimated at £5-10 million per year) should be covered
by a levy on pesticides sales; the HPA and related organisations
in Scotland and Wales should collect population data on pesticides
and other chemicals suspected to cause chronic disease, and a long-overdue
national database for biomonitoring should be introduced;
• give residents, walkers, and everyone who lives in or visits
the countryside the right to know what pesticides they are being
exposed to by introducing mandatory notification both in advance
and with signs on site;
• Public health must be prioritised above pest control, and
the Department of Health should be given a more powerful remit in
relation to pesticide-related disease.
New publications
The EEB- European Environmental Bureau recently published the handbook
“EU Environmental Policy Handbook- A Critical Analysis of
EU Environmental Legislation”. The book contains
one chapter about chemicals and pesticide regulations and is a useful
resource for all non-governmental organisations working in the environment
field. It provides a short outline of EU environmental policy history,
analyses and presents some 60 pieces of EU environmental and nature
protection legislation, establishing links between the different
pieces of legislation.
The book can be ordered at International Books (i-books@antenna.nl).
For more info about the book or access to the PDF version contact
EEB (eeb@eeb.org).
PAN UK published “Pesticides in schools and how to
avoid them”, an essential read for head teachers,
governors, school management, local authorities and government.
PAN UK also published an updated version of the poster entitled
”Pesticides in your food”, illustrating
how much of our food is contaminated with pesticides. The book and
poster can be ordered at PAN UK
and PDF versions will be available soon at the website (http://www.pan-uk.org).
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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