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Pesticides News No 43
The Journal of the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK]
An international perspective on the health and environmental effects of pesticides
Quarterly/March 1999

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Editorial 2

Persistent organic pollutants
The end for lindane 3
A new European Commission report recommends suspending the use of the persistent organochlorine insecticide lindane because of severe health effects and environmental data gaps. It is now being discussed secretly by regulators across Europe - a process that does not involve public interest groups. The Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] has seen a leaked copy of the report and is concerned that the findings have not been adequately addressed by Europe as a whole. David Buffin reports.

Genetically modified organisms
Will GM-foods mean less pesticide use? 4
The industry claim that genetically modified herbicide tolerant (GMHT) crops will reduce herbicide use is proving difficult to confirm. A report by the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) based on limited evidence from independent trials and published company data highlights concerns.By David Buffin.

Assessing the risk of GMOs 5
With the recent breakdown of discussions at the Biosafety Protocol negotiations in Cartagena and the concerns over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) reverberating once again, Topsy Jewell and Andy Stirling review the limitations and potential of a recent bid to apply the science of risk assessment in this field.

Residues in food
Changing the rules of the Codex club 6
The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) has been quietly meeting since 1966 to establish maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides in food. Does it promote public health, or the interests of pesticide companies? Lisa Lefferts, one of the few public interest representatives, reports on the inside workings of Codex.

Sampling for safety 7
Work by the UK Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) has shown that there can be unexpectedly wide variations in residue levels in fruit. PSD held an international conference at York in December 1998 to consider these implications for residue analysis and for health.By Peter Beaumont.

Occupational health
Safe use in Guatemalam - are industry projects effective? 8
In 1991 the pesticide industry, through the Global Crop Protection Federation (GCPF), introduced the voluntary Safe Use Projects (SUPs) to address criticisms of pesticide use in developing countries. Peter Hurst visited a SUP in Guatemala and reports back.

Kenyan farmers on the treadmill - liberalisation threatens food security and sustainable farming 10
This report on the pesticide situation in Othaya, Kenya is based on interviews between August and October 1998 with farmers, pesticide traders and others by local farmer and community organiser, Stephen Wachira Waikwa, of the Itemeini Organic Farming Self Help Group.

Disposal
Ethiopia' toxic legacy 12
An international expert task force visited Ethiopia in November 1998 to assess what needed to be done to rid the country of huge quantities of widely dispersed obsolete pesticides which have accumulated over the past three to four decades. Mark Davis of the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] participated in the mission and reports here what he found.

Chemical exposure victims
Pegging down pesticides - an interview with Enfys Chapman 14
"Chemicals might be used safely in a perfect world, but in real life incidents do happen, and there can be dire results." These words, and much comforting, practical advice, have for the last ten years, greeted thousands of people, their health blighted by pesticides, who have had to turn to Enfys Chapman for help. Founder of PEGS, the support group for pesticide exposure victims whose work the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] has recently taken up, Enfys knows at first hand about dire results. Alison Craig reports.

Pesticides in court 15

Health and safety
Report highlights risk of pesticides used on aircraft 16
According to the new report'Flyers Beware: Pesticide Use on International and Domestic Aircraft and Flights' there are many ways that passengers (and airline crew members) can be exposed to pesticides onboard aircraft. Becky Riley reports.

Wildlife
Decline of the corn bunting in Britain 17
Nick Brickle reports on a project to investigate the effect of agricultural intensification on corn buntings. The main aim was to test the hypothesis that breeding success was affected by low chick-food availability, caused in part by the use of pesticides.

Fact sheets 18-21
Least toxic timber treatment
Dry rot, wet rot and many wood boring insects will only occur in damp timber. Solve your damp problem and you have gone a long way to solving your pest problem.

Dicofol
Dicofol is a organochlorine acaricide (a chemical that kills mites) that is structurally similar to DDT. It is highly toxic to aquatic life and can cause egg-shell thinning in some bird species.

Small doses 21

Book reviews and resources 22-23

UK news 23
Food standards Bill launched
The government has published a draft Bill that will pave the way for the establishment of a Food Standards Agency (FSA). But responsibility for pesticide safety will ultimately remain with the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF), which is criticised for representing the interests of the food industry over those of the consumer.
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