 In turbulent times for all organisations relying on donor funding, PAN UK has launched its 25th Anniversary Appeal. Director Keith Tyrell makes a passionate call for resources to allow the organisation to remain proactive on critical pesticide issues in the UK and internationally (page 3).
In the last three months, major steps have been taken by the international pesticides conventions, confirming their essential role in global pesticide risk reduction. Endosulfan was finally added to a list of globally banned chemicals of the Stockholm Convention in April, and we carry a first hand report on how events unfolded from PAN North America (page 4). At the same time, paraquat was recommended for listing in the Rotterdam Convention, using a powerful but underutilised mechanism which allows developing countries to propose severely hazardous pesticide formulations that have been wreaking havoc in their countries. This is the first time this mechanism has been utilised since adoption of the convention in 2004 and sets a good example for other developing countries to follow (page 21).
New EU regulations on registering pesticides address the long-standing criticism that registration decisions rely too heavily on industry data, but recent guidance has not satisfied critics. It relies heavily on Good Laboratory Practice rather than sound, peer-reviewed independent science, causing a stir among independent scientists who point out the limitations of GLP (page 9). The practical problems of bias toward industry-generated research are demonstrated in an article on the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate). New research on the impacts of glyphosate on birth defects concludes that an objective review of all the available science urgently needs to be conducted by the EU, and certainly before glyphosate-resistant genetically modified crops are approved in Europe (page 15). An update from Brazil demonstrates that such crops are likely to increase pesticide use, with all the associated negative effects on health and the environment (page 6).
A DEFRA consultation on implementation of the new European Sustainable Use Directive concluded that only minor changes are needed in the UK. However conservation organisations disagree (page 18) – while one of the proposed changes seems to be taking the UK backwards in terms of protecting pesticide users (page 16).
Further afield, EU pesticide standards may offer benefits to farmers. Production of green beans in Kenya for export to Europe have improved health, environmental and economic outcomes for farmers through adoption of integrated pest management techniques (page 12).
We also bring you two articles from West Africa on improving pesticide management conditions, by training dealers (page 20) and communities on health impacts (page 8). Finally, an article about a site in Cambridge (page 17) reminds UK readers that pesticide wastes are not only a problem for developing countries.
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Populations of bees and other pollinators are in rapied decline all over the world. While the causes of this are many and complex, there is little doubt that the growing use of systemic neonicotinoid insecticides is contributing. This issue of Pesticides News includes a number of articles exploring the relationship between pesticides and pollinators.
On page 3, Heather Pilatic of PAN North America provides an update on the situation in the US where beekeepers have witnessed overwintering losses of 29% - 36% each year for the last four years. She highlights concerns over the 'fast tracking' of problem pesticides by the US EPA which released two neonicotinoids - imidacloprid and clothianidin - onto the US market in recent years with 'conditional registrations'.
The EU process for assessing the impact of pesticides on bees has also come in for criticism from beekeepers and the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory who have joined together to complain about pesticide industry involvement in the assessment process (page 19).
But politicians are waking up to the problem. Some 70 UK MPs have signed up to a motion to restrict neonicotinoids in the UK (page 10) and London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched an initiative to promote community beekeeping and make London a 'bee-friendly' city (page 11).
We also include afactsheet on imidacloprid (page 20). This neonicotinoid is on the world's 'bestseller' list with sales of around US$1 billion in 2009. However, it has been implicated in declines in bees and tis use has been restricted in some European countries including France and Germany.
Many commentators have predicted that the temperature rises and changes to weather patterns predicted in the coming decades will result in increased pesticide use. However Lars Neumeister believes this does not have to be the case. He points out that socio-economic and regulatory factors have a greater impact on pesticide use than climate. He proposes that effective government policies to reduce pesticide use could more than offset increased pressure from climate change (page 16).
Integrated pest management (IPM) is mostly associated with agricultural systems, but on page 6 we report on the adoption of IPM in childcare centres in Illinois. Young children are particularly susceptible to damage from pesticides, so it is refreshing to read of a successful programme to reduce their exposure.
Meanwhile pesticide poisonings continue to cause problems in Latin America. On page 14 we report on the outcry from citizens and NGOs that has led governements to take steps to ban some of the most harmful substances.
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Pesticides News Journal 
