Pesticides News No 44
The Journal of the Pesticides Trust
[now PAN UK]
An international perspective on the health and environmental effects of pesticides
Quarterly/June 1999
Genetic debate
Falling into the gene trap 3
A new report from the UK development agency Christian Aid describes fears that genetically modified (GM) crop technology will undermine food security and exacerbate rural poverty. Andrew Simms reports.
Brazilian state seeks GM crop ban 4
The southern-most Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul has drafted a law to declare the State a 'transgenic free zone'. Bigger than the UK, Rio Grande do Sul (280,000 square km) has a population of 10 million and is a major agricultural area, producing about one third of the Brazilian export soybean crop. Its new policy follows the election of the Partido dos Trabajadors (Workers Party), which came to power last year. Responsibility for implementing such a law will rest with a number of extension agencies including EMATER (Empresa de Assistencia Tecnica e Extensao Rural), which has appointed Angela Cordeiro, a scientific consultant on biodiversity, to assist in implementing the programme. Barbara Dinham of the Pesticides Trust
[now PAN UK] interviewed her during a recent visit to the UK.
GM cotton fails to impress 6
Against the background of public concern about GM food, and Monsanto's claims that Bt cotton is the fastest adopted new product in the history of agriculture, Dorothy Myers takes a look at the problems with GM cotton especially for small scale farmers in Africa.
'Life sciences' take over 7
The pace of consolidation between the agrochemical and seeds industries continues to quicken as the top agrochemical corporations reorganise under the banner of 'life sciences'. With shrinking public sector crop research, their dominance could leave agriculture dangerously exposed to commercial interests which will reshape the face of global agriculture. Barbara Dinham reports.
European regulation
Spotlight on pesticide policy - Inside the European Commission 8
Marc Debois is responsible for environmental pesticide policy at the chemical substances unit of the Environment Directorate General (DGXI) of the European Commission. In an interview with David Buffin, he explained progress on implementation of the Authorisation Directive (91/414) that regulates pesticides used in agriculture, and the Biocides Directive (98/8) for non-agricultural pesticides.
UK regulation
Call to ban diazinon OP 9
UK Ministers are allowing the continued use of OP sheep dip containing a dangerous active ingredient while pesticides made with the same chemical are taken off the market. John Harvey reports.
Third world
Regulation and monitoring of pesticides in Indonesia 10
Indonesia has a flawless approval system, but virtually no monitoring programmes to police the use of pesticides. Ian Shaw reports on pilot work that his group has carried out analysing residues in human milk.
Health effects
Designing studies to test reproductive effects of pesticides on women 11
The health effects of pesticides include acute poisoning, chronic and reproductive effects. Short term effects frequently go unreported, but even more difficult to establish are the reproductive effects, where there is a time lag between exposure and outcome, and other factors come into play. The FAO undertook a series of studies in Indonesia in the mid-1990s to investigate the impacts of pesticides on women in a farming community, and to guide strategies for future research on reproductive effects. In the following two articles, Andrew Watterson reports on the findings from the unpublished research papers1-9. The studies were carried out by Helen Murphy, a field epidemiologist, sometimes with her colleagues Marlinda Djajadisastra, Mohamed Zambanai, Arik Sanusi and Sri Yuliatingsih.
Pesticides and reproduction - women farmers in Indonesia 12
The epidemiological investigation into the link between pesticide exposure and reproductive effects on women farmers faced impenetrable obstacles. But the studies identified the appalling conditions of pesticide use, and developed valuable recommendations to assist information gathering techniques for future epidemiological studies. Andrew Watterson continues the analysis of the FAO studies.
Obsolete chemicals
Disposal dilemmas 15
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently hosted the fourth consultation on prevention and disposal of obsolete pesticides to review what has been achieved since the programme started in 1994. Mark Davis reports on the slow pace of progress.
Economic instruments
Taxing intensive farming 16
The UK Government has published the long-awaited report on the design of possible charges for pesticides1 that has come out in favour of a purchase tax. Tim Jenkins of Friends of the Earth provides an environmentalist view to counter the agrochemical stance.
Local authorities 17
Highlights from (Pesticides
Trust [now PAN UK]) Local Authority Project councils
Members of the Pesticides Trust Local Authorities Project (LAP) met recently for their annual workshop which was hosted by the London Borough of Brent. Mark Davis reports.
Fact sheets 18-21
Cockroach control - least toxic options
Few pests conjure up such strong feelings of distress, embarrassment and disgust as do cockroaches. Chemical control seems the obvious solution, and it is still a common sight. This method is not always necessary as some domestic cockroach problems can be controlled without reliance on pesticides.
Tridemorph
Tridemorph is a systemic fungicide that first gained commercial clearance in 19691. An evaluation document to be published later in the year by the UK's Pesticide Safety Directorate (PSD) will report concern over its potential reproductive effects on spray operators. Until recently there has been very little human health and environmental information in the public domain on this active ingredient, yet it is used widely over numerous crops in many countries around the world.
Small doses 19
Chemical news 21
Endosulfan found in Australian beef
The Australian cotton industry is increasingly aware of problems of spray-drift and contamination and of the need for practices which will ensure its longer-term sustainability rather than maximising yield. The need for a more cautious approach to the use of pesticides in cotton has been highlighted by the recent rejection of beef exported to Korea on account of excessive residues of endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide widely used in Australian cotton production.