Editorial - Pesticides News 50th issue

How to sum up a million words in a thousand words? That is the task set for this editorial, as we review the 50 issues of Pesticides News since the organisation began in 1987.
    How far have we come since then? Perhaps not too far if an incident at Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, is anything to go by. On 20 October 200 tonnes of toxic chemicals, including pesticides, blew up. Severe flooding after the explosion fuelled the fears of local residents. For years, chemicals had been dumped out of sight in some vain hope that they may conveniently be forgotten. This dramatic incident is a reminder of the wider threat pesticides pose. 
    PN has consistently reported on the unsustainable production, use and storage of pesticides. Of particular concern has been the use of pesticides in developing countries and the extreme hazards they have caused. Topsy Jewell, a PAN UK Board Member, looks at the international issues covered in Pesticides News (see pages 16-17).
    PN has followed pesticide matters in Europe and the UK, which often show similarities to those of developing countries. In the early days of PN, the writing was already on the wall for many of the old fashioned organochlorine insecticides. In September 1988 we reported on the UK phase out of the persistent chemicals aldrin, dieldrin and chlordane. That left lindane as one of the last remaining organochlorines still in regular use. In the UK its use is being phased out, but the process is painfully slow, in spite of the concerns raised about its link with aplastic anaemia in PN in 1989.
    The use of the organophosphate (OP) nerve poisons continues to cause acute and chronic neurological problems. In December 1993 the Veterinary Products Committee advised the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) that there was no scientific justification for banning sheep dips despite the existence of hundreds of cases of ill health. And then in 1995 a report from the Institute of Occupational Medicine provided evidence that OPs are not safe for some operators to use. By September doctors attending a conference organised by the British Medical Association and the National Farmers Union added their voice to the argument by calling for action over OPs. Meanwhile PAN UK called for safer alternatives to be brought forward, and for MAFF to set up an ‘Integrated Pest Management Committee’.
    PN has followed the debate about cancer and pesticides, and the impact of endocrine disrupters on humans and wildlife. By March 1994 we had focused on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) for the first time. Then public interest groups called on regulatory authorities to develop relevant testing protocols so that they can tell whether suspected pesticide EDCs do have adverse health or wildlife impacts. Somewhat depressingly we are still asking the same question six years on (see page 5).
    Pesticides are toxic chemicals which are deliberately released into the environment to kill things. Even the proponents of pesticides agree that they have the potential to cause trouble if used incorrectly. So pesticide control and regulation is ever important. There have been some advances in the UK. Access to information about the effects of pesticides has increasingly improved. In March 1992 PAN UK called on the UK government to open up its committees such as the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), to permit observers and wider participation. In September this year we reported on the first Open Meeting of the ACP.
    On the downside, committees like the ACP take a chemical-by-chemical approach to assessment. Each time there is a problem with one pesticide, another chemical is favoured rather than looking for the less hazardous non-chemical alternatives.
    In December 1992 PN reported on the high costs of removing pesticides from UK drinking water. Stringent limits set by the European Union mean that large sums of money, met by consumers, was spent removing pesticide residues. But even now, the government recognises that it is inevitable that some residues will appear in water due to legitimate use of pesticides. 
    So do we have the all answers to the problems caused by pesticides? That is a question for others to judge, but organisations like PAN UK will increasingly be brought into the decision-making process.
A response to the problems of intensive agriculture has been the increase in consumer demand for organic produce. As Joy Greenall, the Chair of PAN UK, said of organic farming in 1996: ‘New ideas are generally first ignored, later ridiculed and finally frequently accepted as common sense.’ Increasingly, consumer pressure will help the move toward safe, residue free, production of food and fibre.
    Some issues have re-appeared with depressing regularity – but there have been achievements to be proud of, and times are changing.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 50, December  2000, page2]