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Pesticides News No 40
The Journal of the Pesticides Trust
[now PAN UK]
An international perspective on the health and environmental effects of pesticides
Quarterly/June 1998
Timber treatment
A tale of two cities - Safety testing in Britain and Germany 3
Safety tests on permethrin use in homes in Britain and Germany have produced strikingly different results and recommendations. In the UK, water-based permethrin timber treatment formulations have been given eight-hour re-entry time approval, whilst in Germany permethrin has been declared a persistent human health risk for up to two years after application. Jeff Howell visited both institutes to investigate these differences.
Pesticide trade
Exporting Risk - US hazardous trade 1995-1996 4
Trade in hazardous pesticides is being targeted through international legally binding instruments-the newly agreed PIC Convention and the forthcoming POPs negotiations. But there is little publicly available information on trade. Carl Smith of FASE has analysed one of the few sources which shows pesticides too hazardous for use in the US are routinely shipped to developing countries.
First binding controls on pesticide trade - The PIC and POPs initiatives 5
The text of a Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Convention was finalised by governments in March 1998. It heralds the first international legally binding initiative to limit unwanted trade in hazardous pesticides, and will be immediately followed up in June by the opening of negotiations to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from the environment. Nine of the identified twelve POPs are pesticides.
Agricultural biotechnology
Genetic segregation 6
Malcolm Walker founded the Iceland Frozen Food company 28 years ago; it now has a turnover of £1.7 billion that employs 20,000 people. As a member of Greenpeace, he has taken up the crusade against genetically modified (GM) food, selling non-GM lines in all his stores. In an interview with David Buffin Malcolm Walker explains why.
Chemical risks
Safety research study - Nigerian farm household hazards 8
This study by Dr AJ Udoh of pesticide use in one state of Nigeria found unsafe practices of storage and application of pesticides among farmers. Intervals between pesticide application were not observed by farmers. Many highly hazardous and environmentally harmful pesticides, including those banned, are still in use.
International conference in Costa Rica 9
Over 400 participants from all continents gathered in San José, Costa Rica, in February for a major pesticide conference, which combined both the human health aspects of pesticide usage and impact on the environment. Leslie London and Ingrid Eckerman report on the main findings.
Sustainable agriculture
Organic farming worldwide - A 100% pesticide risk reduction 10
The organic agriculture movement is growing rapidly and increasingly farmers are maintaining yields and increasing their incomes, while eliminating pesticide problems. This is an edited version of a keynote address by Bernward Geier, of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), at the International Conference on Pesticide Use in Developing Countries held in February 1998 in Costa Rica.
Environmental cotton
Stepping off the pesticide 'treadmill' 12
Ashraf Poswal and Stephanie Williamson report on efforts to reduce pesticide dependence through a farmer participatory integrated pest management (IPM) cotton training project in Pakistan.
Food safety
Setting the standards 14
Public confidence in food safety has been at an all time low, following the outbreak of BSE. The government's response has been to propose a new Food Standards Agency (FSA) as set out in a White Paper published in January 19981. It is designed to improve food safety by overhauling the system, from plough to plate. Before the 1997 general election Tony Blair, then leader of the opposition, commissioned Professor Philip James, Director of the Rowett Research Institute, to set out a blueprint for a Food Standards Agency2. In an interview with David Buffin, Philip James discusses how far he thinks his ideas are likely to become reality.
News
Agricultural biotechnology 7
MEPs vote supports biotech industry
Malcolm Walker founded the Iceland Frozen Food company 28 years ago; it now has a turnover of £1.7 billion that employs 20,000 people. As a member of Greenpeace, he has taken up the crusade against genetically modified (GM) food, selling non-GM lines in all his stores. In an interview with David Buffin Malcolm Walker explains why.
Codex rejects GM labelling for food
Consumers International, a federation of some 235 consumer organisations in 109 countries, is deeply concerned that consumers world-wide will find themselves unable to make clear choices on whether or not they want to buy genetically modified (GM) food.
Sustainable agriculture 11
Competitive organic gross margins
A multi-disciplinary research project has looked at the consequences of converting to organic farming methods. Most of the data studied were from the Duchy Home Farm in Gloucestershire, which began the transition from conventional to organic in 1986 and finally became fully organic in 1996.
Chemical news 15
- Re-assessment of lindane safety
- Cypermethrin pollution kills river life
- OP restrictions in UK imminent?
Disposal 16
Urgently wanted - aid for obsolete stocks
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has again brought attention to the huge amounts of unused pesticides which threaten human health and the environment in many developing countries at a recent meeting on pesticide disposal. FAO urged the international community to increase its efforts to solve this environmental tragedy.
European news 17
Fact sheet - DDT 18
DDT was the first synthetic pesticide of the modern age. It promised much, but ultimately created widespread concern as an environmental hazard.
Small dose 20
Pests in the home fact sheet - issue No.1 / Flea control - least toxic options 21
Indoor use of chemicals is the main source of non-occupational human exposure to pesticides. As an ongoing series in Pesticides News, this report aims to help reduce hazards from the home environment.