Pesticide production
In the Soviet era, Hungary was a major global
manufacturer of pesticides, producing 60 of the 200 most important actives in
global use(1). In the early 1990s, Hungarian industry manufactured about 60,000
tonnes per year of active ingredients, worth around US$230 million. The most
important were the herbicide acetochlor, the fungicide benomyl and
thio-carbamate herbicides. In 1992 Hungary ranked 20th among leading pesticide
producers(2). Production declined significantly from 1997 due to the
unfavourable economic situation, shrinking export markets and fierce competition
from higher quality imports. Today production is worth around US$120-130
million.
Of the 13 production companies, six dominate: Chinoin,
Nitrokémia, EMV, Budapest VM, Alkagro and Rhone-Poulenc-Agro Borsod.
Nitrokémia is the largest Hungarian company, producing acetochlor, 2,4-D,
propisochlor and fungicides metalaxyl and folpet.
ÉMV’s Sajóbábony factory has been the target of
Greenpeace protests against water pollution, after independent analysis showed
acetochlor concentrations much higher than authorised limits. Several companies
export substances which are banned in Hungary, for example lindane, to third
world countries. Several active ingredients in the Hungarian industry’s
portfolio have been withdrawn at EU level.
| Box 1. Active ingredient hazards in Hungary(1) | |
| Of the 360 active ingredients registered in Hungary in 2000, the following are flagged internationally as hazards: | |
| Priority substances for EU water framework directive | 7 |
| Rotterdam Convention* pesticides or candidates | 5 |
| WHO Class 1a | 7 |
| WHO Class 1b | 15 |
| Cholinesterase inhibitors | 39 |
| Possible carcinogens (EU category 3) | 17 |
| Possible mutagens (EU category 3) | 10 |
| May cause harm to unborn child (EU) | 5 |
| Dangerous for the environment (EU) | 141 |
| With accession to the EU, authorisation of 69 active ingredients in Hungary will expire in order to harmonise with the EU pesticides directive 91/414. *The Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC), provides details of banned pesticides. Hungary’s ban on monocrotophos helped add this to the PIC list. | |
Usage in Hungary
Latest official figures, based on sales data from
distributors, show that sales increased from 117 million Euros equivalent in
2000 to 148 million in 2001, an increase of 27%(3). In 2001, the volume sold was
12,860 tonnes, an increase of 17.5%. Of this total, insecticides accounted for
1851 tonnes, an increase of 20%, herbicides 6259 tonnes (16% increase) and
fungicides 3382 tonnes (6%). The most commonly used pesticides in Hungary are:
acetochlor, metolachlor and atrazine herbicides; copper, sulphur, carbendazim,
mancozeb and captan fungicides; and for soil sterilisation terbufos. Hungarian
products now account for 10-12% of the national market. In 2001, Nitrokémia
captured 4.7% of the national market share, sixth in ranking after BASF,
Novartis, Aventis, DuPont and Zeneca.
Concerns have been raised by certain NGOs and academics over
many of the pesticides registered for use in Hungary. Box 1 lists some of the
hazardous properties and numbers concerned. Amongst the most problematic
pesticides that NGOs want banned are atrazine, the most widely used pesticide in
Hungary, and captan, used in households as a general pesticide, produced by
Bayer under the name ‘Orthocid’. ‘Environment friendly’ is written on
the pack although it is potentially carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic, and
classified in PAN North America’s database as a Bad Actor substance. Lindane
was finally banned in Hungary in 2003 although as recently as 1998 Budapest VM
sold 50 tonnes in Hungary. The availability of acutely toxic pesticides is an
issue as 100-150 suicides are committed using pesticides every year. NGOs feel
that the Ministries of Environment and Water and of Health need to be much more
proactive in protecting human health and the environment and are critical of the
Ministry of Agriculture for authorising many pesticides without adequate
attention to hazards, particularly carcinogenic and mutagenic properties.
However, pesticide usage and impacts issues are not really addressed by the
public or policy makers in Hungary.
Environment and food residues
Results of surface water measurements in 2002 and 2003
show that 50% of the water samples contained pesticide contamination over the
drinking-water limit. The two pesticides that were found in most samples,
including in Lake Balaton and the river Danube, were atrazine and acetochlor, at
concentrations sometimes 100-1000 higher than permitted. One major accident
concerning pesticides occurred in 1998 when the Chinoin factory released Chinmix
insecticide (cypermethrin) into the Danube. The factory admitted only 120 litres
(6 kg active ingredient) but measurements showed that it was probably 2,400
litres (120 kg active ingredient). Thousands of dead fish followed the path of
contamination.
During the Soviet era, pesticide contamination was around 2%
of sampled food produce but in 1994 after the liberalisation of the pesticide
market it increased to 5-6%. In 1997 residues were found in 16.5% of greenhouse
crops, 5.6% exceeded permitted levels and 12.6% contained banned products. The
five most problematic crops for residues were lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomato
and table grapes. In 2001, residues exceeded permitted levels in 2% of samples
and 3% contained banned substances. In 2002, 5% of lettuce was contaminated.
Organic food and farming
A 2003 survey on adult views on food quality revealed
that only 26% of respondents felt that selecting organic food was important.
Nevertheless, the market is growing rapidly, with the number of organic shops
increasing by 20% annually in recent years. In 2003, organic production was
carried out on 120,000ha, although 95% is exported.
1. Neumeister L, Pesticides in Central and Eastern European Countries: Usage, Registration, Identification and Evaluation. Part 2: Hungary.L Neumeister, PAN Germany, Hamburg, 2003.
2. Position of pesticide production in the chemical industry, Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2000, http://www.ikm.iif.hu/english/economy/industr/novszer.htm
3. Pesticide use in Hungary 2001, Official Document from the Parliament 2002.
Gergely Simon is Programme Manager for the REACH campaign at the Clean Air Action Group (CAAG), a Hungarian federation of 126 environmental NGOs. Email simong@levego.hu, www.levego.hu/CAAG
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 64, June 2004, page 11]