Pesticide Exposures UK and International Policy Failings

1
Pesticide Exposures - UK and International Policy
Failings
Conference - Science, Medicine and the Law 1st
February 2005

• Georgina Downs
• www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk

2
Pesticides - Background

• Pesticides deliberately designed to be toxic -
  inherently hazardous to human health
• Safety Data Sheet warnings
• Toxic by inhalation/do not breathe spray/may be
  fatal if inhaled/risk of serious damage to eyes
  etc.
• Over 50 years of scientific/medical evidence of
  dangers of pesticides/risks inherent in use/acute
  and chronic long-term effects that can result
  following exposure, including from Governments
  very own documentation
• ie. Safe use of Poisonous Chemicals on the Farm
  MAFF 1975 - Avoid inhaling particles of any
  pesticide

3
Identifying Key Issues

• Current system fails to protect people in the
  countryside from exposure to pesticides
• Inadequacy of bystander exposure/risk assessments
• Mismatch and inconsistencies between the
  legislative requirement to protect workers and no
  protection for members of the public
• Inadequacy of current monitoring system and the
  role of the Pesticides Incident Appraisal Panel
  (PIAP)

4
Inadequacy of exposure/risk assessmentsBystande
r model not appropriate for residents

• Bystander
• Predictive Model
• Assumes-
• Occasional
• Short-term exposure
• Immediate spraydrift
• One pesticide only
• Can walk away

• Resident/neighbour
• Real-life exposure
• Reality-
• Repeated/frequent
• Long-term exposure
• Pesticides in the air
• Mixtures
• Live in sprayed area

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(No Transcript)
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Not considered in current assessments

• Long term exposure to pesticides in the air
  (excluding spraydrift)
• Transportation - pesticides can travel for miles
• Exposure via- volatilisation after application/
  precipitation/harvesting dust/pollen/pesticides
  transported from outdoor to indoor
  air/environment etc.
• Vulnerable groups - babies, children, pregnant
  women, elderly, people already ill (interactions
  with medication)
• Mixtures - 4, 5 way mixes/other sources of
  exposure (ie. food residues, water,
  non-agricultural) all chemicals
• Exposure for dogs/cats and other domesticated
  animals -inhalation/ingestion from walking in
  sprayed fields etc.

7
Mismatch/inconsistencies between legislative
requirement to protect workers and no protection
for residents and bystanders

• Worker
• Legally allowed to know info. on
  chemicals/risks/effects
• Required to wear PPE to protect against
  droplets/particles/ vapours/dusts etc.

• Residents/bystanders
• Currently not entitled to know info. on
  chemicals/risks/effects
• No protection and yet breathing same
  droplets/particles/ vapours/dusts etc.

8
Inadequacy of current monitoring system and the
role of PIAP

• HSE/PIAP only really set up to deal with
  incidents of acute exposure - no monitoring/
  collection of data on chronic effects
• Full extent of ill-health related to pesticides
  not known - underreporting/misdiagnosis due to
  many factors including- No knowledge of
  exposure/chemicals/that symptoms may be linked/no
  reporting/no investigation/lack of training for
  doctors
• Previous reports heavily criticized
  regulations/monitoring for pesticides (ie. BMA
  1990/Select Committee on Agriculture 1987)

9
Ill-health reported by people living near sprayed
fields

• Acute
• Sore throats/burning eyes, nose, skin/blisters/
  headaches/dizziness/ nausea/flu-type illnesses
• May be correlation with safety data sheet warning
• Commonly dismissed by authorities as not related
  to pesticides - why?

• Chronic
• Clusters of cancers, leukaemia, Non-Hodgkins
  lymphoma/neurological effects/asthma/allergies
• Difficult to prove causation (years after
  exposure/mixtures/no chemical info. or even
  knowledge of exposure)

10
Ill-health reported by people living near sprayed
fields (continued)

• Case example cluster of 7 cancers in a row of
  approx. 10 houses that back onto sprayed fields -
  a 52 year old man was diagnosed with prostate
  cancer which had spread to his bones - he died
  within 2 years of diagnosis - years later the man
  who had bought the house was also diagnosed with
  prostate cancer and again by the time it was
  diagnosed it had already spread to his bones -
  therefore same house, different times
• Govs. Advisory Committee on Carcinogenicity
  recently acknowledged poss. link between prostate
  cancer pesticides
• Govs Advisory Committee on Pesticides also
  recently accepted evidence of an association with
  Parkinsons Disease
• Pattern/clusters of illness reported in rural
  areas is a serious cause for concern and should
  be urgently addressed in relation to the
  potential association with pesticide exposure

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Summary of other Key Points

• Responsibility/accountability and liability
  issues - buck-passing of the problem from one
  Government agency/authority to another with
  everyone just blaming everyone else
• 2003 DEFRA Consultation on crop-spraying - did
  not address the fundamental points of the case
  that had been presented regarding the bystander
  issue - turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy,
  as set up saying science not in
  question/determined by saying no new science
  presented
• Where is the evidence to support DEFRAs
  assertions that pesticides safe/no risk to people
  from crop-spraying/clusters of acute and chronic
  ill-health reported is not related?
• Royal Commission study on risks to people from
  crop-spraying - publish report in June 2005 -
  www.rcep.org.uk

12
Pesticide Exposures for People in Agricultural
Areas - International

• Ill-health reports - not only from the UK, but
  from all over the world - international
  problem/not just confined to UK/EU
• Regulations may differ slightly from country to
  country, but most follow the same/similar
  approach for the bystander model (ie. short-term
  exposure at time of application only)
• Regulatory authorities on an international scale
  have clearly overlooked a very significant
  exposure scenario in relation to people who
  actually live in agricultural areas and yet
  pesticides are not supposed to be approved for
  use until risk assessments have been undertaken
  to provide evidence that there will not be a
  health risk

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - France

• Mr. and Mrs. Obry live in Southern Brittany in
  the middle of fields that are regularly sprayed
  with mixtures of pesticides and other chemicals
• They have suffered, amongst other things,
  breathing problems, oedema, vertigo, loss of
  balance, muscle weakness, memory/concentration
  problems, persistent headaches/coughs, ezcema and
  joint pains
• They know of other residents in agricultural
  areas who are also affected

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - France

• Jean Claude Cauquil - beekeeper - set up
  association for anyone affected by agricultural
  pesticides - reports coming in of ill-health from
  all over France from both farmers and rural
  residents
• Illnesses and symptoms reported include,
  neurotoxic problems/leukaemia/various cancers/
  Parkinsons/MS/male sterility/liver, lung and
  digestive problems
• Jean Claude has suffered oedemas/dry
  mouth/nausea/liver and neuromuscular problems
  following exposure to pesticides - wife and
  daughter also suffer the same effects
• French Government have repeatedly stated that no
  one else in Europe reporting problems - clearly
  not factually correct

15
Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - Spain

• A gentleman who lives near San Pablo de Buciete
  on the outskirts of the Guadiaro valley, Spain -
  a major orange growing region - he would
  regularly suffer breathlessness, giddiness and
  general nausea following spraying of an orange
  grove approx. 1 kilometre away from his property
• 2 yrs ago the same farmer bought the land
  surrounding his property - in the field opposite
  alone planted 6,000 orange saplings - no warning
  is given, we just know to take cover and close
  the window when the whooshing starts.
• Both he and his wife suffered symptoms - his wife
  suffered headaches/abnormal tiredness/memory loss
  - local health centre said bronchitis/asthma -
  only after rushed to hospital with severe
  breathing problems was lung cancer diagnosed

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Acute ill-health effects confirmed in
agricultural workers - Netherlands

• A study published in 1997 entitled Acute
  work-related poisoning by pesticides in the
  Netherlands a one year follow-up study -
  Meulenbelt J, de Vries I - The National Poisons
  Control Centre, National Institute of Public
  Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The
  Netherlands
• Direct relation between exposure and acute
  effects in 37 of the 54 cases - symptoms included
  skin and/or eye lesions (23 cases) and systemic
  health effects (14 cases)
• In 79 of cases, splashing of pesticides or
  exposure to pesticides during agricultural
  spraying led to the effect(s)

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - Japan

• Following the article in the Observer on 13/4/03
  I was contacted by a Dr. Kazuo Watanabe from the
  Hamamatsu University School of Medicine in Japan
  - he assists people suffering pesticide/chemical
  related ill-health - subsequently a petition was
  made to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
  Fisheries (MAFF) in Japan in order to limit
  pesticide application in residential areas
• MAFF issued a notice on 16/9/03 that stated
  Pesticides harm animals and human beings by
  scattering to the air. Recently a lot of people
  are complaining about their health damages caused
  by scattered pesticides..used at farms, around
  schools, nursery schools, hospitals, parks,
  roadside trees and residential areas.

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - Japan

• Dr. Watanabe recently sent me an anonymous
  example of a patient with pesticide and chemical
  related ill-health
• Some of the symptoms the patient describes
  following exposure to pesticides are intense
  giddiness, heavy headache, nausea, amnesia, a
  consciousness obstacle, as well as dyspnea,
  abnormalities of recognition and rigourousness of
  body.

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - California, US

• In one area in California, rural residents have
  reported that incidents of headaches, nausea,
  flu-like symptoms, asthma attacks and other
  effects have occurred every time pesticides have
  been applied on nearby fields (over a 16 year
  period)
• Clusters of chronic illnesses, including various
  cancers with increased cases of cancer deaths,
  miscarriages and deaths due to birth defects,
  amongst other things, have been reported in
  agricultural areas all over California - one
  person reported that almost their entire street
  was affected

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - California, US

• President of an organisation in California the
  Canaries Foundation that represents people who
  have been pesticide/chemically damaged, pointed
  out that people who have reported ill-health
  effects, have been told over the years they
  should move, leave during applications, that they
  are too sensitive, that its all in their head
  and that there is no money for testing etc.
• Same as UK situation and in response to claims of
  individual all in the mind perceptions, the
  majority of people who contact me did not know
  anything about being exposed to pesticides until
  after they became ill - therefore this is
  definitely not that people are simply
  perceiving effects following awareness of
  exposure

21
Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - North Carolina, US

• In North Carolina the Director of Protect All
  Childrens Environment in response to the launch
  of the UK DEFRA Consultation last year stated
  to pretend that buffer zones are going to
  protect anyone, especially children or the
  chemically intolerant/disabled is absolute
  fiction.
• A representative from the pesticide regulatory
  authority in North Carolina recently confirmed
  that they do receive a number of reports of
  adverse health effects from both aerial and
  ground spraying - However, he went on to say that
  it is often very difficult to prove that it is
  related to any breach of regulations/law for them
  to enforce - same as UK

22
Conflicts of Interest - International

• In July 2003 Michael Meacher and Lord Whitty both
  raised concerns regarding the structure of UK
  Government advisory committees - A US Gov.
  report released in 2001 illustrated that this is
  also an international problem
• The General Accounting Office report found
  serious deficiencies in EPAs procedures for
  preventing conflicts of interest/ensuring a
  proper balance of views among members of science
  advisory panels - Henry A. Waxman, (ranking
  Democrat on the House Government Reform
  Committee) who had requested the study stated
  The American people expect decisions that affect
  environmental and public health regulations to be
  based on unbiased scienceBut this GAO study
  reveals polluting industries are in a position to
  influence panel findings.

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada

• Sharon Labchuk, a pesticides campaigner on PEI
  has said that sickness relating to pesticides
  spraying is one of the top environmental issues
  on the island
• She says We do have high incidences of many
  diseases here - asthma is highest in Canada,
  spina bifida is more than twice the national
  average, cancer is higher than the national
  average and people in the field say learning
  disabilities are sky high too.

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Ill-health reported by people in agricultural
areas - Saskatchewan, Canada

• Paule Hjertaas - a pesticides campaigner in
  Saskatchewan, Canada - many people have contacted
  her reporting both pesticide exposures and acute
  and chronic long-term illnesses and diseases in
  rural communities - informally collecting
  cases/incidents for several years
• Eg. an organic farmer noticed 3 cases of babies
  born with brain cancer in his area a year after
  widespread aerial spraying - the provincial
  epidemiologist discounted these cases, because
  they were not the same type of cancer and said
  that the population of the area was too small to
  draw any conclusions from
• Fundamental point in relation to the issue of
  pesticide related ill-health, as how can
  illnesses be prevented if doctors do not address
  the potential causes? - Ontario pesticides
  literature review took a markedly different
  approach, as primary concern was to prevent
  illness rather than treat people once already ill

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Legal issues/difficulties - International

• Niel Halford - barrister and solicitor who takes
  on a number of cases of spraying incidents per
  year on a pro bono basis in Saskatchewan, Canada
• In a typical spraying case (that has resulted in
  contamination of neighboring property/land) Mr.
  Halford says The sprayerassures us that he took
  great care, that he has special training. And he
  says the spray was harmless in any eventIn my
  experience there are no sprayers who acknowledge
  that they have caused any problems with their
  spraying. I have not come across even one in more
  than 20 years of practicing law in rural
  Saskatchewan.

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Violation of Human Rights

• The WHO EU Charter on Environment and Health
  states that-Every individual is entitled to an
  environment conducive to the highest attainable
  level of health and well-being and that the
  health of every individual, especially those in
  vulnerable and high risk groups must be
  protected.
• Current system violates fundamental Human Rights
  - natural peaceful enjoyment of property etc. -
  Government failed to stop infringements of these
  rights by not acting to stop exposure of people
• Regulatory action (by UK Gov. depts./the EU
  Commission/EU Member State governments) to ban
  products on a precautionary basis simply because
  hazardous has been upheld as lawful by the
  English Court and the European Court of Human
  Rights (ECHR)
• BSE case (Case C-180/96 UK/NI V Comm. 1996 ECR
  1-3903) the Comm. decision upheld by ECHR -
  Where there is uncertainty as to the existence
  of risks to human health, the institutions may
  take protective measures without having to wait
  until the reality and seriousness of those risks
  becomes fully apparent.

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Summary of UK pesticide policy failings

• In the light of the European Convention of Human
  Rights Act 1998, failure to stop infringements of
  Human Rights by not acting to stop exposure of
  people
• Failure to adopt an adequate system for provision
  of information to the public in breach of their
  convention rights, particularly their article 8
  rights
• Failure to use an adequate measure of exposure
  (ie. inadequacy of bystander risk assessment in
  relation to the exposure scenario of residents
  and neighbours)
• Failure reasonably to examine the synergistic
  effects of multiple exposures to different
  pesticides
• Failure to record or examine adequately cases of
  chronic exposure/illness
• Failure to act on information/evidence regarding
  exposure/risks to people in countryside from
  crop-spraying

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Conclusion

• Origins of traditional farming methods did not
  rely on chemical inputs - use of pesticides has
  resulted in devastating consequences for
  health/animals/wildlife/water/soil/food and the
  wider environment - massive economic/financial
  implications for all parties (except pesticide
  industry) -impossible to quantify
• A long-term approach is needed, rather than
  inadequate measures aimed at addressing problems
  only in the short-term - this problem is not
  going to be solved by simply a little first aid
  or by papering over the cracks, as the whole
  core foundations and structure on which the
  current regulatory system operates is inherently
  flawed
• Royal Commission on Environmental Pollutions
  2003 chemicals report stated -We believe that
  only a substantial paradigm shift will begin to
  rectify this situation and we believe that such a
  shift needs to be made now.

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What should be done?

• Protection of public health has to be the
  overriding priority and take absolute precedence
  over any financial, economic or other
  considerations
• Members of the public deserve to be protected
  from avoidable/unnecessary exposures/risks to
  their health
• Substantive evidence already exists to
  demonstrate a serious public health problem -
  significance of these consequences requires
  adoption of a preventative approach
• Only responsible course of action for EU and UK
  Gov. to take is an immediate ban on crop-spraying
  near homes, schools, workplaces/any other places
  of human habitation and direct access for the
  public to all the necessary chemical information
  - only overall solution is widespread adoption of
  sustainable non-chemical/natural methods to
  protect public health/wider environment now and
  for future generations