{"id":134810,"date":"2023-05-03T10:40:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T08:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/?p=134810"},"modified":"2023-05-03T10:53:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T08:53:16","slug":"eu-must-do-more-to-reduce-impact-of-chemical-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/en\/eu-must-do-more-to-reduce-impact-of-chemical-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"EU must do more to reduce impact of chemical pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pesticide use is a major cause of pollution since it contaminates the air, soil, and water, destroys biodiversity, and breeds pest resistance. Chemical pesticide exposure in humans has been related to chronic conditions like cancer, heart, respiratory, and neurological problems.<\/p>\n

The most recent research<\/a> on the effects of chemical pesticides on human health and ecosystems in Europe is compiled in the new EEA briefing, “How Pesticides Impact Human Health and Ecosystems in Europe,” which also offers best practises for lowering their usage and risk throughout Europe. It demonstrates effective methods for lowering pesticide use and managing the dangers that go along with it without endangering the supply of food.<\/p>\n

Pesticide use and impacts: what we know<\/h3>\n

Europe\u2019s\u00a0agriculture sector<\/strong>\u00a0still relies on using high volumes of chemical pesticides to maintain crop yields, with the volume of pesticides sales having remained stable over the past decade. Pesticides are also used in forestry, and along roads and railways, as well as in public parks, playgrounds or gardens widely used by the public \u2014 particularly by children, pregnant women and the elderly,\u00a0groups more vulnerable<\/strong>\u00a0to pesticides.<\/p>\n

From 2011 to 2020,\u00a0pesticide sales<\/strong>\u00a0in the EU-27 Member States remained relatively stable at around 350,000 tonnes per year.<\/p>\n

In 2020, one or more pesticides were detected\u00a0above thresholds<\/strong>\u00a0of concern (a risk to human health) at 22% of all monitoring sites in rivers and lakes across Europe. In terms of soil pollution, 83% of agricultural soils tested in a 2019 study contained pesticide residues.<\/p>\n

Pesticide pollution is one of the key drivers of\u00a0biodiversity loss\u00a0<\/strong>in Europe. In particular, pesticide use has caused significant declines in\u00a0insect populations, threatening the critical roles they play in food production, in particular the pollination of most fruit and vegetable crops.<\/p>\n

People are mainly\u00a0exposed to pesticides<\/strong>\u00a0through diet, including food and drinking water, as well as by spending time in areas where pesticides are applied and, for agricultural workers, at the workplace.\u00a0A large-scale human biomonitoring study<\/a>\u00a0conducted between 2014 and 2021 across five European countries found at least two pesticides present in the bodies of 84% of survey participants.<\/p>\n

Pesticide levels were consistently\u00a0higher in children<\/strong>\u00a0than in adults, with children being particularly sensitive to the negative health impacts of chemicals. Human exposure to chemical pesticides is linked to a range of serious chronic diseases, such as cancer, and heart, respiratory and neurological diseases, as well as developmental delays in children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Can we halve the use of pesticides in the EU by 2030?<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Meeting the targets \u2014 reducing pesticide use<\/h3>\n

In 2020, the European Commission\u2019s\u00a0Farm to Fork Strategy<\/a>\u00a0introduced two\u00a0pesticide reduction targets<\/strong>: a 50% reduction in the use and risk of chemical pesticides and a 50% reduction in the use of more hazardous pesticides. The Strategy is a key part of\u00a0the European Green Deal<\/a>\u00a0and aims to make Europe\u2019s food systems fair, healthy and sustainable. Achieving the targets will require more work by EU policymakers and Member States, the briefing notes.<\/p>\n

The European Commission recently proposed a\u00a0new regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides<\/strong>, which would require countries to set their own national reduction targets, ensure that all farmers and other professional pesticide users adopt environmentally friendly systems of pest control, and restrict the use of pesticides in sensitive areas such as urban green areas and protected areas. Other measures discussed in the briefing include training professional users and advisors, incentivizing the transition to organic and precision farming, and taxing the most hazardous pesticides.<\/p>\n

To reduce dependency on chemical pesticides and maintain food security, it will also be critical to promote the\u00a0shift to alternative models of agriculture<\/strong>\u00a0that apply ecological concepts and principles to agricultural production, the EEA briefing suggests.<\/p>\n

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