Proudly Pesticide-Free: Part 1

2024-03-05T14:33:50+00:00March 12th, 2024|

This year we are celebrating 10 years since the start of farmer training in our joint project with PAN Ethiopia to get rid of Highly Hazardous Pesticides on cotton farms in Ethiopia’s Southern Rift Valley. We’re kicking off with a video from PAN Ethiopia’s Director, Dr Tadesse Amera, praising the [...]

Stories from the Ground

2024-03-05T09:08:05+00:00March 7th, 2024|

Cotton is the world’s most popular natural fibre, produced by over 24 million cotton growers in 75 countries. Whilst cotton farmers and workers are indispensable to the global fashion industry, they are largely excluded from conversations and stories around sustainability. To understand and transform the fashion and textile industry, we [...]

Take pesticide products off supermarket shelves!

2024-03-03T08:37:08+00:00March 3rd, 2024|

The growing movement calling for supermarkets to stop selling harmful gardening pesticide products continues to make progress with your help. A number of major supermarkets are currently reconsidering their sale of synthetic pesticides so an email from you now could have real impact. Thanks to public pressure, Co-op and [...]

Pesticide mixtures in wine more than treble since 2016

2023-12-13T00:07:40+00:00December 13th, 2023|

Recent results from the UK Government’s testing programme have exposed a dramatic increase in the proportion of wine that contains multiple pesticide residues – from 14% in 2016 (the last time that wine was tested) to 50% in 2022. The official data – which has been collated and analysed by [...]

Are fashion retailers and brands supporting the sustainable cotton sector?

2023-06-13T08:33:42+01:00June 13th, 2023|

The 2023 Cotton Ranking of retailers and brands reveals that just nine of the major fashion companies are doing the bare minimum to improve sustainability in the cotton sector. Much of the cotton purchased by major companies does not even meet basic certification requirements. Of the 82 largest cotton-sourcing companies [...]

The climate emergency is devastating Ethiopian farmers

2023-05-24T10:19:08+01:00May 15th, 2023|

by Dr Stephanie Williamson, PAN UK Staff Scientist PAN Ethiopia teams meet up for week of training in Arba Minch. Credit PAN UK I recently had the privilege of visiting my hard-working, dedicated colleagues in Ethiopia to find out how our joint projects on growing cotton organically and [...]

Half of bread contains pesticide cocktails (plus download the ‘Dirty Dozen’)

2022-11-02T09:56:57+00:00November 2nd, 2022|

Based on official figures, PAN UK has today revealed that the proportion of bread containing two or more pesticides has almost doubled in the past year to 50%. The figure marks a major increase from government testing results over the past decade when, on average, roughly a quarter of bread [...]

Scaling up organic cotton production in Benin

2022-09-06T11:30:46+01:00September 6th, 2022|

By Dr Alex Stuart, International Project Manager (Agroecology), PAN UK My first trip to Benin was a fascinating experience. I arrived in Cotonou, a bustling port city that was originally founded by King Ghezo of Dahomey in 1830 and then occupied by the French from 1883 until Benin gained independence [...]

Call for United Nations to end partnership with pesticide industry

2022-06-09T15:34:21+01:00June 9th, 2022|

Today, 430 civil society and Indigenous peoples organisations from 69 countries around the world called on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to uphold human rights and end its partnership with CropLife International. CropLife is the industry association that represents the world’s largest pesticide manufacturers. Ahead of the [...]

Pesticide and breast cancer – what are the links?

2022-01-28T14:43:26+00:00January 28th, 2022|

by Patricia Bischof, Breast Cancer UK Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in the UK – with 56,000 new cases every year. The causes of breast cancer are not fully understood. Studies have identified numerous factors which can increase or decrease breast cancer risk, including those associated with genetics, [...]

Pesticide links to motor neuron disease ALS

2021-11-24T22:32:29+00:00November 24th, 2021|

by Dr Angeline Andrew (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth) The majority of cases of motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not explained by a familial trait or gene. Scientists suspect that certain chemicals in the environment are likely the culprit. Since many insecticides kill by over-stimulating the [...]

Impacts of pesticides on Caribbean farming communities

2021-05-18T14:27:14+01:00May 17th, 2021|

by Alex Stuart, International Project Manager (Agroecology), PAN UK In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of pesticide imports into the Caribbean, with close to 10,000 tonnes imported in 2018 for agricultural use alone. These include highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), which pose a significant risk to human health [...]

People make mistakes – lessons learned from high-risk industries

2021-05-13T09:46:45+01:00May 13th, 2021|

by Keith Tyrell, Director, PAN UK Three decades ago, as a young graduate I embarked on a career in environmental and safety management.  One of my first jobs was working on the safety systems of highly hazardous industries like oil and gas and chemical plants to ensure that the risk [...]

Unprecedented support for the UK to drastically reduce pesticide use

2021-03-19T12:01:32+00:00March 5th, 2021|

by Sarah Haynes, Collaboration Coordinator, hosted by PAN UK Over the last few months, PAN UK and RSPB have mobilised 45 organisations and individual farmers and academics to respond collectively to the UK Government’s public consultation on the revised UK National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides [...]

Dramatic rise in global pesticide poisonings revealed

2021-12-10T12:23:56+00:00December 9th, 2020|

In a comprehensive study released today, scientists report that pesticide poisonings on farms around the world have risen dramatically since the last global assessment 30 years ago. Based on an evaluation of available poisoning data from countries all over the world, the researchers conclude that there are about 385 million [...]

Organisations unite to defend food standards

2021-03-19T12:05:53+00:00October 5th, 2020|

Trade deals, pesticides and why we have joined the Future British Standards Coalition by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy & Campaigns, PAN UK PAN UK is proud to have been invited to join the recently-launched Future British Standards Coalition. We will be providing expertise on pesticides to this new panel [...]

The heart-breaking stories of families affected by pesticide poisoning

2021-03-19T12:06:12+00:00September 25th, 2020|

Moise and Celestine shared the tragic story of their son dying from pesticide poisoning. Credit PAN UK by Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes, PAN UK Last November, I was collecting data in Benin, West Africa. While in Dassa, we were joined by farmers who had agreed [...]

Bees, beets and obesity

2021-03-19T12:06:48+00:00September 16th, 2020|

by Nick Mole, Policy Officer, PAN UK UPDATE (26th Oct 2020): FRANCE AND NEONICOTINOIDS There are mixed messages coming from France about the continued use of neonicotinoid insecticides. On the one hand the European Court of Justice ruled that France was entirely within its rights [...]

2020: A massive year for UK pesticides

2020-02-24T22:33:23+00:00January 31st, 2020|

by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy & Campaigns, PAN UK I joined PAN UK in June 2017 to help ensure that UK pesticide standards didn’t drop as a result of Brexit. There was a flurry of activity at the time and, over the next 18 months, we were kept [...]

Agricultural pesticide drift contaminates children’s playgrounds

2019-09-05T15:01:49+01:00May 21st, 2019|

by Koen Hertoge, PAN Europe and Peter Clausing, PAN Germany Agricultural pesticide drift contaminates children's playgrounds - Image: Shutterstock Fruit and wine production is among the agricultural sectors with the highest pesticide applications. Yet, the extent to which such public places are affected by pesticide drift from agricultural [...]

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