Editorial
3 December: a day of no pesticide use

The idea of establishing a Day of no pesticide use began as a Colombian initiative in 1993 when the Institute of Natural Resources declared a day in memory of three people who died in an accident with organophosphates in Chiquinquira.
    Although the original Day of no pesticide use was in November, in adopting this global action PAN groups decided that the symbolic day should become part of the annual remembrance of the victims of Bhopal on 3 December. The leak of methyl isocyanate from the Union Card Bhopal plant making aldicarb and carbaryl for use in cotton prompted international outrage and marked a turning point in regulation of chemical plants - but the tens of thousands of victims of the Bhopal gas leak remain disabled and impoverished with little support for their plight (see pp 4-5).
    PAN aims to have the Day of no pesticide use recognised by governments and United Nations agencies, particularly FAO, WHO, UNEP and others which deal with pesticide problems and regulation. On this day, PAN groups around the world draw attention to public opposition to pesticides through many different types of action and information. They encourage individuals, industry, researchers, governments and others to think beyond pesticides and so link activities to safe food campaigns, raising awareness and stimulating support for alternatives.
    While in the Northern parts of the world there is very little pesticide use on 3 December in agriculture and much reduced use in non-agricultural areas, Europe, North America and Japan remain the largest producing and exporting regions, and business continues as usual.
    Longer term hazards of pesticides are not bound by hemisphere or by time: their environmental damage is being addressed through international negotiations which aim to phase out Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and ozone depleting pesticides like methyl bromide.
    The recent poisoning of 24 children in Peru by the insecticide parathion is another reminder of the hazards posed by pesticides (see page 3). Here government-donated food was contaminated with a toxic chemical and sent to a Andean community where there is extreme poverty, and a lack of medical, social and technical support. The problems of pesticides in this remote area are not new, but it is the first time they have come to wider attention.
    Reducing the risks posed by pesticide presents particular difficulties in countries which have little or no institutional frameworks for the control of hazardous chemicals.
    As part of a very practical initiative to strengthen chemical management capacity in developing countries, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Programme for Chemical Safety supported pilot case studies to identify appropriate chemical risk management strategies (see pp 6-8).
    Meanwhile in Brazil there are still many pesticide problems to overcome (see pp 12-14). A study of tomato production reveals high exposure to pesticides among workers and high levels of banned pesticides in many tomato samples.
    The enormous health and environmental implications of endocrine disrupting pesticides (see pp 16-19) are only now being realised, although collectively we still need to fill in the many gaps in our understanding of this subject.
    Over 80 pesticides are thought to have reproductive and/or endocrine disrupting effects, and the list may well increase in the future as screening programmes expand. Surely the only way remove the threat from endocrine disrupting substances is to eliminate our exposure to them where ever possible.

"The battle against pests cannot be won by using pesticides".

Visit the Bhopal Website

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.46, December 1999, page 2]