However, not all news has been so positive. Those of us living in the UK will have been taken aback by our government's flat rejection of the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution (RCEP) recommendations in its report 'Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders'. Acknowledging a possible link between chronic ill health and pesticide exposure, the RCEP recommended a number of precautionary measures, most notably the provision of no-spray zones between sprayed fields and residential areas. Not only have the government rejected this, they have also have ruled out calls for a statutory requirement on farmers to make spray records publicly available. Such information is vital for doctors treating exposed patients. Farm records will be available at the farmer's discretion, a situation that has historically failed to guarantee access (page 9).

The developing baby and newborn child are uniquely susceptible to chemical exposures. Professor Janna Koppe reviews evidence that pesticides can cause oxidative stress to the foetus and placenta and can affect the normal functioning of hormone systems. These effects can increase foetal mortality and lead to a range of chronic health conditions in later life, such as high blood pressure. She provides pre-conception advice (page 4).

A recent study from California asked whether newborns were more sensitive to organophosphate pesticides than their mothers. When setting food tolerance standards in the United States regulators can allow for a maximal tenfold difference in sensitivity between adults and children. That is they can reduce the levels of pesticide residues allowed in food by up to tenfold to protect children. In an interview with one of the researchers, Professor Asa Bradman, he describes how they found a 65-fold variation in sensitivity to diazinon and a 164-fold variation in sensitivity to chlorpyrifos (page 6). These results beg the question - does current risk assessment protect our children?

The first announcement of results from the Drift Catcher (a device measuring pesticides in air) was made in July. Measurements taken in the town of Lindsay, California showed chlorpyrifos levels 7.9 times higher than the Reference Exposure Level. The Drift Catcher provides a powerful tool for communities living near sprayed areas to advocate peticide reduction (page 12).