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Pesticide Action Network UK

We are the only UK charity focused on tackling the problems caused by pesticides.
Pesticide Action Network UK

Helping Cotton Farmers to Cut Pesticide Use
Pesticide Action Network UK

Are Pesticides Harming Bees?

PAN UK HomeSam Claydon2025-05-28T00:23:17+01:00

PAN UK Updates

Where the wild things grow
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Where the wild things grow

All PAN UK posts, Pesticide-Free Towns

Where the wild things grow

Sam Claydon2025-06-12T08:44:40+01:00June 12th, 2025|

Council workers and contractors across the UK are currently spraying the weeds on our pavements, parks, playgrounds and other public [...]

Hidden threats to hearing: pesticides can affect auditory health
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Hidden threats to hearing: pesticides can affect auditory health

All PAN UK posts, Safeguarding health

Hidden threats to hearing: pesticides can affect auditory health

Sam Claydon2025-06-02T09:44:16+01:00June 2nd, 2025|

By Felipe Muñoz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de O'Higgins Recent research from our team at the [...]

Huge win for health and environment as UK agrees to align with EU pesticide standards in reset deal
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Huge win for health and environment as UK agrees to align with EU pesticide standards in reset deal

All PAN UK posts, Changing UK policy, Defending the environment, Protecting our food, Safeguarding health

Huge win for health and environment as UK agrees to align with EU pesticide standards in reset deal

Sam Claydon2025-05-22T12:02:00+01:00May 22nd, 2025|

PAN UK is delighted with this week’s reset deal which commits the UK to following EU existing and future pesticide [...]

Find out more about glyphosate - the active ingredient in Roundup

Find out more alternatives to pesticides using our resources section.

Find out more about the work we do to end pesticide use in cotton

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Council workers and contractors across the UK are

Council workers and contractors across the UK are currently spraying the weeds on our pavements, parks, playgrounds and other public green spaces with toxic herbicides. Author and artist, Anna Chapman Parker, has written a blog providing a glimpse of the under-appreciated beauty being lost. Not only are pavement plants vital in supporting our wildlife, there is so much to observe and enjoy if we just know how to look for it. @annachapmanparker

Anna’s wonderful new book, Understorey: A Year Among Weeds, is out now in paperback. Part diary, part sketchbook, Understorey shines a light on our common urban plants, celebrating their extraordinary abundance, resilience and value.

You can also find some limited edition, organic cotton apparel in our online shop featuring some of Anna’s designs.

Links in bio.

Pesticide exposure could potentially affect hearin

Pesticide exposure could potentially affect hearing – even for those who simply live near agricultural areas.

While previous studies have focused on farm workers handling pesticides directly, new research indicates that just living close to areas where pesticides are sprayed could cause measurable changes to auditory function, particularly in high-frequency hearing ranges that would be crucial for understanding speech in noisy environments.

This research was conducted by the Sensory, Perceptual, and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at the Institute of Health Sciences, University of O'Higgins, Chile. @la_uoh

Read the full story on our blog (link in bio).

#hearingloss #pesticides

Period products can contain pesticides and other h

Period products can contain pesticides and other harmful substances, such as heavy metals and PFAS ‘forever chemicals’. The UK government doesn’t test these products or require them to be free of chemical residues.

This not only poses a major health risk to those who menstruate, but also to smallholder farmers exposed to toxic pesticides while growing the cotton that goes into tampons, pads and period pants.

Act now by telling Chemicals Minister Emma Hardy to protect human health by eliminating harmful chemicals from period products. Link in bio.

#PesticideFreePeriods #PeriodFriendlyWorld

Today, on World Menstrual Health Day, we have publ

Today, on World Menstrual Health Day, we have published our new report – Blood, Sweat and Pesticides.

Period products can contain pesticides and other harmful substances, such as heavy metals and PFAS ‘forever chemicals’. The UK government doesn’t test these products or require them to be free of chemical residues.

We tested just 15 boxes of tampons and in one box of tampons we found glyphosate at 40 times the level allowed in drinking water. Unlike when ingested through food or water, chemicals absorbed via the vagina directly enter the bloodstream, bypassing the body’s detoxification systems and posing a significant health risk.

Pesticides end up in period products after being used to grow cotton, one of the most chemical dependent crops in the world. Smallholder cotton farmers are regularly exposed to toxic chemicals, with at least a third suffering poisoning symptoms each year.

Tell Chemicals Minister Emma Hardy to stand up for human health by ensuring that period products are free from harmful chemicals.

Link in our bio.

#pesticidefreeperiods

PAN UK is delighted to welcome Jonathan Worthy-Pau

PAN UK is delighted to welcome Jonathan Worthy-Pauling as our new Director. He brings with him a strong background in developing, growing and nurturing an organisation that will build on PAN UK’s work and influence. Jonathan’s background in food poverty will add huge value to the teams in PAN UK whose work is helping to eliminate the adverse impacts of pesticides on health, the environment and on agricultural economies. We very much look forward to him joining us in September.

"I'm delighted to be joining Pesticide Action Network UK. I've spent the last 30 years working on building programmes that promote health, equity, and sustainability within food systems. Over the last 10 years I've led Alexandra Rose Charity to pilot, and then scale, financial incentives for healthy food across the UK. I'm looking forward to bringing my skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to the critical work of PAN UK to help build a world where the harms of pesticide use to the planet, and to people’s health, can be greatly reduced.”
Jonathan Worthy-Pauling

Cotton is an important crop in #Tanzania, with ove

Cotton is an important crop in #Tanzania, with over half-a-million households relying on #cotton cultivation for their primary source of income.

A new study, published in Toxics, reveals significant levels of pesticide poisoning among Tanzanian smallholder cotton growers following occupational exposure to highly hazardous #pesticides (HHPs).

Of the 1,074 cotton farmers and farm workers interviewed, 48% of respondents had experienced symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning within the previous 12 months.

Over 80% of the reported poisoning incidents were associated with just four pesticide active ingredients: #profenofos, #lambda-cyhalothrin, #chlorpyrifos and #cypermethrin.

Given the well-documented adverse effects of these chemicals on human health, this study clearly indicates an urgent need for improved pesticide regulation, the scale up of community surveillance and the promotion of less hazardous alternatives to the use of HHPs.

There is a range of alternative pest management options available to replace HHP use in cotton when used in an integrated approach. The rapid growth of organic cotton production in Tanzania highlights the potential for HHP-free cotton cultivation.

Find the full study on our blog, link in bio.

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The Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YD