Mediterranean OP report

In 1991 the Mediterranean countries agreed through the Barcelona Convention to the progressive elimination by 2005  of  organo-phosphate (OP) compounds hazardous to human health and the environment. They also agreed to financial and technical support to train farmers in IPM “whereby non-chemical methods of controlling pests are emphasised.” Under the Convention, governments agreed to ban immediately the use of OPs unless it is proved that they have no direct effect on human and animal health. Despite this decisions, a recent Greenpeace report underlines the fact that OP pesticides are still widely used in agriculture in the Mediterranean region.
    The major health problem with OPs is neurotoxicity. Greenpeace cite data which suggests that acute OP poisoning can result in long-term neurological effects, changes in behaviour and a decrease in neuro-pyschological performance. There is also a growing body of evidence which suggests that low dose chronic exposure to OP compounds can cause adverse effects on the peripheral and central nervous systems. Greenpeace says that these and other studies reveal the number of people affected by long-term neurotoxic effects after either chronic or acute exposure to OP compounds is much greater than previously thought.
    Greenpeace strongly supports the Mediterranean countries’ decision to adopt measures to promote the phaseout of OPs and calls for the implementation of the Barcelona Convention to give support to farmers to implement IPM with an emphasis on non-chemical control.

The effects of organophosphorous pesticides on human health, Greenpeace International, Keizergracht 176, 1016 DW Amsterdam, May 1995, 28pp.