{"id":25951,"date":"2019-11-22T00:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T04:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=25951"},"modified":"2019-11-22T10:32:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T14:32:31","slug":"brexit-predicted-to-lead-to-regulatory-decline-and-increased-hazards-from-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/11\/brexit-predicted-to-lead-to-regulatory-decline-and-increased-hazards-from-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"Brexit Predicted to Lead to Regulatory Decline and Increased Hazards from Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, November 22, 2019)\u00a0The potential exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) \u2014 aka \u201cBrexit\u201d \u2014 may portend greater pesticide use and exposures, according to a report from the Soil Association and the Pesticide Action Network UK.<\/a> As covered by The Guardian<\/em><\/a>, the report\u2019s prediction points to uncertainty, despite reassurances from the United Kingdom (UK) government, about what regulatory standards will actually be in effect if and when Brexit occurs. The report also highlights the under-regulated issue identified in the report\u2019s title \u2014 The Cocktail Effect<\/em><\/a> \u2014 synergistic impacts<\/a> of exposures to multiple synthetic pesticide compounds. Beyond cessation of pesticide use, Beyond Pesticides advocates for more rigorous review<\/a> of synergistic effects of pesticides in the U.S.<\/p>\n

In the UK, environmental and health advocates are voicing worries that the government\u2019s reassurances that existing standards will be maintained after a Brexit is unconvincing. UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove insists<\/a> that environmental standards would be enhanced following a UK exit from the EU. But advocates are concerned about potential loopholes that could allow farmers to use more pesticides on crops than the EU regulations permit, and could greenlight the import of foodstuffs with greater amounts of pesticide residue than current EU regulations allow.<\/p>\n

Advocates also point to a report<\/a> from the multi-partisan Environmental Audit Committee (of Members of Parliament, or MPs) that warns that a draft Environment Bill\u00a0proposed for the post-Brexit period is alarmingly lacking in purported \u201cprotections.\u201d That report says<\/a>, \u201cThe environmental principles which guide and inform EU legislation and policy have been severely downgraded by the proposals in the bill. They are [also] subject to a number of exclusions and to the veto of the secretary of state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, advocates note the marked increase in pesticide use in the UK during the past 30 years or so. The Cocktail Effect<\/em><\/a> provides a \u201cstatus report\u201d on pesticide use in the UK. It asserts that treated acreage (calculated as treated area multiplied by number of applications) has increased by nearly two-thirds in that period. This has been true especially of herbicide and fungicide application. In addition, frequency of use has risen: whereas 1990 saw 30% of grain crops and 21% of oilseed rape treated more than four times in a growing season, by 2016 those metrics rose to 55% of grains and 80% of rape; potatoes, e.g., are subject to three times the number of applications they underwent in 1990. Further, the report contends that the toxicity of currently deployed pesticides is higher than that of previous generations of compounds. It cites the examples<\/a> of deltamethrin<\/a>, used in many crops, as 360 times more toxic<\/a> than the infamous DDT<\/a>, and some neonicotinoids as 10,000 times more toxic than DDT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Cocktail Effect<\/em> drills down on the issues related to exposures to multiple pesticide compounds \u2014 pesticide \u201ccocktails.\u201d It cites various metrics, including<\/a>:
\u2022 more than 1\/3 of all the fruit and vegetables tested by the UK government in 2017 and 2018 contained residues of more than one pesticide<\/p>\n