Editorial - Pesticides News No. 21

   

As we go to press, the US Clinton Administration is expected to propose legislation that will reform their food safety laws. This has come about after policy changes were announced in June to reduce the use of pesticides and to promote sustainable agriculture. The background to this and other measures to reduce pesticide use are outlined in this edition. The OECD has also announced that it will be tracking the progress of national attempts to reduce the use and risk from pesticides together with attempts to introduce integrated pest management. This will be launched in January 1994 under a three-year 'Activity on Pesticides' programme.

    Pesticide reduction strategies can only be enhanced by tighter regulation on hazardous pesticides.  This issue contains an update on the prospects of controlling trade in hazardous pesticides, especially to Third World countries. The Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures, set up through the Food and Agriculture Organisation and now in operation, can help raise awareness of the hazardous nature of pesticides for Third World countries. 

A report from the US National Research Council says that pesticide risk assessments should, in the case of children, be modified in recognition of their different dietary needs and metabolism. At the same time, a study in the UK on the use of TBTO, a wood preservative applied in domestic premises, suggests that an infant could be exposed to 25 times as much TBTO as an operator applying it.
    The extent to which pesticide residues can travel is underlined by a report from the Dutch fisheries institute, RIVO, which suggests that airborne transportation of the widely-banned insecticide toxaphene, used on cotton in the Caribbean, is turning up in mackerel in the North Sea, a distance of 8,000 km away.

 

Paraquat: putting the record straight

On page 3 of the last edition of Pesticides News (No. 20), Natalie Avery’s article, ‘Fears over food quality Standards’ stated that “in 1983 the US ended the spraying of paraquat”. This information, although not referenced, was taken from an article in appearing in The Times of India (26/1/93). Zeneca, the main manufacturer of paraquat has asked us to point out that paraquat spraying has not in fact 'ended' in the US.

 

The death of consumer lobbyist Eileen Nic
Eileen Nic died of brain cancer in New York on Monday 21 June, She was 42. Eileen was a Program Director for the Institute of Consumer Policy of Consumers Union (US) and a representative for the International Organisation of Consumers Unions at the United Nations.

    As an activist, lobbyist and grass-roots organizer, Eileen helped build environmental and consumer organisations and networks internationally and in the US with unflagging determination and a great sense of love for both the people she worked with and those she served. She is perhaps best remembered for her input into the UN Consolidated List—an international list of chemicals, including pesticides, which have been banned or severely restricted by nation states.

    The Eileen Nic Memorial Fund has been set up in her name to finance awards to environmental and consumer activists from the developing countries. The fund address is: PO Box 595, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, US.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.21,September 1993, page 2]