Editorial - Pesticides New No. 29

After presenting the last two issues of Pesticides News with theme topics, Pesticides News 29 reverts to a more general style.
    In the Third World we address the hazards of pesticide use in Kenya. It is revealed how difficult it is to exercise proper controls over the sale and use of banned or severely restricted pesticides. Pineapple production in Kenya is an example of the ‘circle of poison’ where highly hazardous pesticides are exported to produce food which is re-exported to Europe. We provide a basic background to pesticide regulation in ten Asian countries, ranging from the developed market of Korea to the underdeveloped situations in Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
    In the UK, organophosphate (OP) sheep dips are still in the news. As reported in Pesticides News 28, scientists from the Institute of Occupational Health have carried out a study which demonstrated effects on the nervous system after chronic OP exposure. Since then, the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC), which advises the government, has disagreed with the conclusions of this study, which were published in the well respected medical journal The Lancet. We have taken up the issue with the VPC. On a more positive note, we report on a link-up meeting between the National Farmers Union and the British Medical Association on the OP issue. We profile the chemical control of another ectoparasite—head lice in children—and put forward alternative strategies.
    Pesticide use and policies in Europe represent an important strand of the Pesticide Trust’s [now PAN UK] work. We therefore include the developments of the European Federation of Agriculture Workers Pesticide Group and cover some of the issues of particular interest to our NGO colleagues Pesticides Action Network Germany. We also follow the debate which is going on in Germany over the possible chronic health effects linked with synthetic pyrethroids used in the home.
    We continue our focus on a particular active ingredient—in this issue dichlorvos. Concerns about this OP include its effects on the aquatic environment and hazards in the Third World. There are many uncertainties about whether dichlorvos causes cancer, despite having been on the market for over 40 years: but the acute health hazards are far more certain—many consider it should be one of the pesticides included in the PIC process.