The current European Union Directive for authorising pesticides (Directive 91/414/EEC for the placing of plant protection products in the EU market) is totally inadequate to prevent the increasing health threats to the people in Europe, and in particular vulnerable groups such as children, women of child bearing age, pregnant women and socio-economically deprived groups. The current proposal to revise Directive 91/414/EEC and the proposal for a new Directive to address the use phase of pesticides are concrete opportunities to put human health ahead of agricultural considerations and to apply the precautionary principle.
This briefing explains our concerns and outlines policy proposals to improve this alarming situation by tackling the following issues:
- Why current risk assessment does not protect health? p4
- Why are foetuses, infants and children more vulnerable? p5
- What does new research show? p6
- Pesticide exposure in the womb: a lethal legacy p8
- Do we have reasons to be concerned about the level of contamination? p9
- Implications of the new scientific understanding of health effects of pesticides p10
- Conclusions and policy recommendations p11