Editorial (PN 49)

The organic cotton sector has made considerable progress since it started in Turkey around ten years ago and the products are much better known than they were even five years ago. Available data show an overall global increase in production of around 80% — a dramatic increase in two years. Dorothy Myers reports on recent developments in production and consumption.

The European Union has among the highest standards in the world covering pesticide residues in drinking water – but at what cost? In the UK for example consumers have to pay an estimated £100 million per year to the water companies to remove pesticide residues. Regulators now accept that the presence of pesticides in water is inevitable, but environmentalists say they have no business being there in the first place. PAN UK has produced a briefing on pesticides covering all these major issues (see page 5).
    As we launch the water briefing, news of another serious sheep dip incident has surfaced in the north of England. Up to 1,000 rare crayfish and river invertebrates were wiped out in late August along a 2km stretch of Mill Beck, Windemere. The source of the pollution is a nearby farm and the Environment Agency has set up an investigation into the incident. The authorities have not yet identified the offending chemical but they suspect a synthetic pyrethroid sheep dip. Emerging research from Canada shows pesticides mixed with sources of non-potable water may be harbouring harmful bacteria. Some products may even perpetuate micro-organisms such as E. Coli 0157:H7. A report on the world agrochemicals markets, shows 1999 was not a good year for agrochemical companies (see pages 10-11). After adjusting for inflation, sales of pesticides dropped for the first time in almost 10 years to US$29.6 billion, 3.5% lower than 1998. Company mergers and acquisitions have for some time gripped the industry as the players seek economies of scale to cover the global market and to generate funds for research and development. The hazards associated with pesticides do not necessarily relate to the size of the market, as an article on pesticide problems in Costa Rica, Tanzania and Vietnam highlights. Although statistically speaking the average pesticide used per person is the same for Tanzania as it is Sweden, the exposure to pesticides can vary considerably. In the UK shoppers are becoming increasingly wary about pesticides, as growing support for organic farming testifies. Pesticides are poisons that are designed to kill. The Crop Protection Association’s Crop Protection in Context has published a public relations booklet to show their products in a positive light (see pages 14-15). But when asked in a recent Gallup poll: ‘If you could make one change in the countryside...’ 23% of respondents said that they would: ‘Forbid farmers from using pesticides.’ Another survey revealed nine out of 10 shoppers want supermarkets to ensure food contains no pesticide residues.
    New regulatory actions are removing some hazardous pesticides from the market. The dangerous chemical chlorpyrifos faces restriction for home and garden use in the US (see page 16). We wait to see if similar action is taken in Europe, and elsewhere in the world. After 15 years of campaigning, we can start to say goodbye to the persistent organic pollutant lindane (see pages 6-7). On 13 July the European Union’s Standing Committee on Plant Health recommended that lindane use should be phased out for all agricultural and gardening applications over the next 12 to 18 months.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.49, September 2000, p2]