PAN UK - Editorial Pesticides News 70

The third of December marks the anniversary of the explosion in the pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, an anniversary marked each year by the Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture. This December the speaker is Professor Tyrone Hayes an amphibian endocrinologist at the University of California. Professor Hayes sparked off a controversy in 2002 when his research indicated that atrazine, one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, was feminising male frogs at concentrations 30 times lower than that legally allowed in US drinking water. He now presents research from his and others laboratories indicating that atrazine can also retard the growth and development of frogs and suppress their immune systems, effects which are enhanced when atrazine is combined with other pesticides or other environmental stressors (page 12). For over a decade conservationists around the world have been ringing alarms bells over the astonishing declines in amphibian populations with many different theories mooted in explanation. Professor Hayes’ results strongly suggest that exposure to pesticides, in general, and to atrazine, in particular (a persistent and ubiquitous pollutant), is likely to be one important contributing factor. The physiological processes affected in amphibians are common to all vertebrates, and, Professor Hayes postulates that these results may explain associations between low fertility and reproductive cancers in humans. Syngenta, the main manufacturer of atrazine, continue to downplay the significance of his results.

In this issue there are several articles addressing the pesticide regulatory process. PAN UK welcomes the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s recent report on the impacts of crop spraying on bystanders and rural residents (page 8). The Royal Commission was ‘unimpressed’ by current government arrangements for monitoring pesticide related ill health and found that links between reported chronic ill health and pesticide exposure were plausible. They recommended a more precautionary approach advocating a number of changes including introduction of no-spray zones between sprayed fields and residential land. PAN UK will lobby for full implementation of their proposals.

Recent research analysing internal tobacco industry documents and US Environmental Protection Agency documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act has provided evidence of undue tobacco industry influence on regulatory decision-making (page 3). Case studies show how industry bodies have used a number of tactics, such as covertly paying ex-employees of regulatory agencies to influence decisions on establishment of safety thresholds such as ADIs and MRLs. It is highly likely that other industry groups use similar underhand tactics to their advantage. The authors advocate increased scrutiny of regulatory influences to ensure public health interests are protected.

New information continues to come to light about sites contaminated with obsolete pesticides. In this issue we describe the history and current state of an obsolete pesticide store in Kitengela, Kenya (page 10). Provisions under the Stockholm Conventions should be available to provide financial and technical assistance. The author describes the challenges that lie ahead for the Kenyan Authorities and NGOs tackling this problem.