UK Monitoring

 

Sheep dipping problems identified
Proper precautions are not being taken by those dipping sheep in organophosphate pesticides, according to a survey carried out across 696 farms during 1992 by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). “Some practices revealed a complete disregard for the basic rules for protecting health” said Ed Friend, of HSE. The survey found:

  • dippers’ feet or hands used to immerse the sheep on 48 farms

  • no faceshield worn when mixing the concentrated dip on 353 farms

  • wooden handled dipping poles used for immersion on 460 farms

  • dip removed from the bath by bucket on 124 farms.

The survey also confirmed under-reporting of poisoning as many people fail to notify instances of ill-health to the HSE or the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. Of the 1,800 people covered by the survey, 160 reported occasions of ill-health after dipping over the previous 10 years, but only five had been reported.

    To alleviate the problem, and improve standards,  the HSE will take enforcement action:  it did so on 40 occasions during the survey. New leaflets highlighting the problems have been distributed. Despite this the HSE say they need to know more about the causes and nature of ill-effects exposure to dipping. They are commissioning further research.

    Occupationally hazardous organophosphates were used by 95% of dippers. Farmers are being advised to substitute less hazardous non-OPs.

Health and Safety Executive, ‘HSE survey confirms poor working practices during sheep dipping’ Press Release, 20 July 1993.

 

Increase in pesticide incidents

 

A total of 226 pesticide incidents were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last year, the highest on record. The year before the figure was 207. This may reflect an increase in reporting rather than an increase in poisoning. Although under-reporting incidents continues among those using pesticides. Of the incidents investigated for 1992/93, 84 are alleged to have caused ill-health compared with 80 the previous year.Of the 542 enforcement notices issued, 504 related to storage conditions and the storage of unapproved pesticides and 38 concerned unsafe use of pesticides.

 

Drift a problem

The HSE remains “concerned about off-site drift of pesticides. It accounts for the majority of incidents investigated and HSE wants measures to tighten the law relating to drift” according to Greg Bungay, Deputy Superintending Inspector. He is also concerned about the protection of those who apply pesticides and is negotiating European standards relating to sprayers to achieve control of contamination through equipment design.

 

Accidents

Some examples of pesticides incidents documented include:

  • A person was admitted to hospital and later died after being splashed in the face with paraquat when he dropped an open container of the concentrate.

  • A  gardener suffered a painful rash from a leaking hose gasket on a knapsack sprayer. The product containing paraquat, diquat, amitrole and simazine penetrated his disposable coveralls.

  • The day after being over sprayed with cypermethrin and dimethoate in his garden, a member of the public suffered severe irritation and swelling on arms, face, eyelids and lips and also experienced a headache.

  • A member of the public alleged that he was over sprayed with glyphosate whilst walking along a footpath adjoining a field and this caused face rash and asthma. In this case, grass was being sprayed in a field from a tractor mounted boom sprayer.

Pesticide Incidents Investigated in 1992/93, HSE, 85pp.  

 

Nation Farmers Union
—guidance on integrated crop protection
NFU produced its pesticide policy in July 1991. It has now formed a group with retailing organisations and produced a husbandry protocol incorporating the principles of Integrated Crop Protection, and giving guidance for pesticide use.  The retailers involved are CWS (Coop), Marks and Spencer, Safeway, Sainsburys, and Waitrose. The intention is to provide an industry wide guide for good agricultural practice that will be acceptable by retailers. It is not clear how the protocols will relate to other guidance in the same area given by organisations such as the European Plant Protection Organisation, which are also developing crop protocols.

NFU and others, NFU/Retailer Integrated Crop Management Protocol: Fresh Cauliflower, NFU, London, June 1993, 39pp.

 

Freedom of access to information

 

 

ACP annual report

The annual report of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), which advises Ministers on all aspects of the control of pesticides is available. This includes consideration of the safety and efficacy of both new and old pesticides. The ACP met five times during 1992. Provisional approval was given for abamectin, esfenvalerate fluoroglycofen-ethyl tebuconazole, triasulfuron, tribenuron-methyl. The ACP recommended continuing existing approvals for fenpropidin, guazatine, imazaquin and tolclofos-methyl in agriculture and kathon 886, primiphos-methyl, TBTN and Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis in non-agriculture. A routine review was carried out on 2,4-D and special reviews were carried out on atrazine, simazine, carbendazim, chlorpropham, diazinon, methyl bromide, sodium cyanide and triazophos.

Advisory Committee on Pesticides Annual Report 1992, HMSO, £8.95, 73pp.

 

Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) report

The VMD have produced their annual report for 1992/3. Much of their time has been taken up with the consideration of sheep dips, vaccines for poultry and a product for the treatment of varroa in bees. Ministers accepted the advice of the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) that organophosphate (OP) sheep dips should continue to be available for the summer 1993 dipping, and a further review will take place at its October 1993 meeting. This seems to be at odds with that emphasised by the Health and Safety Executive which is now recommending the greater use of non-OP dips (see HSE Sheep dip report on page 21). The VPC recommended that certain measures should be taken urgently, in particular to combat evidence it had on the poor use of protective clothing and incorrect dipping practices. In the period from 1 January 1985 to 31 March 1993, the VMD received 438 reports of human suspected adverse reactions to OP sheep dips involving 348 individuals, 287 of these reports have been received since 1 January 1991.

VMD Annual Report & Accounts, 1992/93, HMSO, July 1993, 80pp.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.21,September 1993, pages 21-22]