Editorial - Pesticides News No.28  

The Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] cotton project has entered a new phase over this year by linking with small farmers in Senegal to support their interest in growing organic cotton. Pesticides News 28 includes a 16-page supplement which reports on aspects of the cotton chain, and the potential to link sustainable production and fair trade.
    Pesticides have been a focus of publicity in the UK in recent months, as concern over the health effects of the acutely toxic organophosphate (OP) insecticides increases.
    For some time, the adverse acute effects of OP sheep dips have been documented. The problem was recently highlighted in an episode of the ITV television play Peak Practice which portrayed the problems dramatically. Recent evidence form the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Birmingham, reported in Pesticides News, suggests that chronic occupational exposure is associated with subtle changes in the nervous system. Many organisations are now calling for a phase out of OP-based sheep dips, whilst bringing foreword safer non-OP methods of control.
    OP residues have been found in carrots at levels which exceed the acceptable daily intake (see Pesticides News 27). Recent research by the Ministry of Agriculture confirms that these residue levels are continuing.
    The Green Network and Women's Environmental Network (WEN) launched national petitions drawing attention to the apparent increase in breast cancer in the UK, and a local Lincolnshire Green Network breast cancer petition collected 17,000 signatures. Breast cancer rates in the UK are the highest in the world and the most common cause of death among women between the ages of 35 and 54. The causes are unknown, although there is evidence that environmental pollutants may be to blame. WEN and the Green Network are calling for an Action Plan and believe independent research is urgently needed to look at the cause and prevention of breast cancer and possible links with industrial chemicals such as organochlorines.
    The action in Lincolnshire to draw attention to breast cancer has heightened significance following a recent epidemiological study at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, cited in The Observer newspaper. The study indicates that children in rural Lincolnshire and South Humberside have contracted brain tumours at up to double the expected rate.
    One of the pesticides causing concern is lindane, which is widely used in the Lincolnshire region, and we include a fact sheet on this active ingredient. An active ingredient fact sheet will become a regular feature of Pesticides News.
    Internationally, this issue of Pesticides News reports on the failure to reduce health and environmental problems 10 years after the Food and Agriculture Organisation Code on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides was introduced.
    On a positive note, we highlight the UK launch of the New Zealand Waipuna system which uses super-heated water to control weeds. Several local authorities, concerned about environmental issues, have expressed interest. We also focus on the establishment of the Asian Network on Natural Enemies and Pesticides.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 28, June 1995, page 2]