The group ‘No pesticides’-in which we have always
we participate with enthusiasm and determination – presented to the Chamber of Deputies, on 4.12.18, the 25 thousand signatures collected in support of the petition ‘
no
pesticides
near the dwellings
‘
.
‘
No
pesticides
‘ near homes
‘
, the dangers
Exposure to pesticides
exposes to serious dangers
the health of those living in and near areas where such substances are sprayed. Not only workers in agriculture-who generally use personal protective equipment-but especially those who live in the surrounding areas. (1)
Children e teenagers, pregnant women are the population groups most vulnerable to agrotoxics, for two simple reasons:
-The effects of substances, in toxicology, are measured in mg/kg body weight. The lower the weight, the greater the harmful effects,
-Lower-weight individuals are precisely those undergoing training. Of organs, prenatally, and systems (neurological, endocrine, immune) in the growing age.
However, ‘acceptable daily thresholds’ are still developed considering only the exposure of adult individuals, whose weight is more than three times that of the average child in age 0-10. Only direct consumption (of foods containing residues of active ingredients) is considered, neglecting both the so-called cocktail effect (i.e., the synergistic and additive action of multiple substances) and other routes of exposure.
Exposure to agrotoxics, on the other hand, takes place orally (via food and water), but also by contact. Not only with farming tools, but also with pesticide-contaminated items (e.g., cloths laid out in areas adjacent to those ‘sprayed’). And by air, with the complicity of weather phenomena (wind, especially) and inaccuracies in treatments (due to poorly adjusted spray nozzles, for example).
The so-called ‘drift effect’ is precisely that caused by the dispersion of poisons beyond the crops and/or target pests. Pesticides thus spread to the surrounding environment, poisoning air, water, soil and their inhabitants. Human beings and animals, including bees.
‘
No
pesticides
‘ near homes
‘
, the indispensable and urgent rules
The petition by the group ‘No Pesticides’ – which already has 65,000 members – is addressed to all political forces, the government and oppositions. As well as to public health administrations and agencies. A fundamental human right, as well as a collective interest, proclaimed by the Italian Constitution in Article 32.
At this first stage, the ‘No Pesticides’ group is calling for the urgent introduction of two indispensable rules to protect the health of people living in rural areas in the new National Action Plan (NAP) on pesticides, to be approved in the coming months:
-Mandatory safety distances of not less than 50 m from dwellings and fields cultivated with organic production,
-obligation to notify neighbors, at least 72 hours before each treatment and display signs warning of danger following treatments.
Advance notice is crucial, lest unwitting neighbors leave clothes hanging or windows open, rather than hosting outdoor lunches or parties, perhaps even with children.
The ‘polluter pays’ principle needs to be brought back to the center of legislative debate in the agricultural sector as well, where the impact of agrochemicals on the environment and health is now the focus of the concerns of risk assessment agencies. (2)
‘
No
pesticides
‘ near homes
‘
, the conference 4.12.18 at the Chamber of Deputies
Renato Bottiglia, coordinator of the group ‘No Pesticides’, introduces the conference at the Chamber of Deputies on 4.12.18. Exposing the dangers of pesticide exposure to rural dwellers and the rules that need to be introduced as a matter of extreme urgency to protect them.
Daniela Altera
by
European Consumers
, an expert in environmental risk assessment with extensive experience in the specific area of pesticides, will moderate the event. First, remembering the long-term effects of these poisons, which now contaminate 60 percent of our waterways.
Legislative Decree 150/12, in transposing Directive 2009/128/EC, postponed the concrete implementation of its criteria to a subsequent act, the National Pesticide Action Plan. The NAP was supposed to define ‘information and awareness programs’, among other things. But it did not define, as it should, any obligation to inform the public or neighboring farmers about pesticide treatments.
Maria Grazia Mammuccini
, Federbio board member, recalled that the ‘Stop Glyphosate‘ Coalition
, for which she is a spokesperson, receives support from 57 associations in Italy. Millions of signatures have been collected in Europe to prevent the renewal of glyphosate authorization. Renewal that was then decided, shamefully, in the rooms in Brussels(or at the Berlin Zoo).
Risk assessment
on pesticides must come based on independent scientific studies and not, as is still the case, on opaque dossiers
submitted by permit applicants. The
risk assessment
, we add, must take place in the open without being able to admit the trade secrets invoked by the European Commission
.
No pesticides, the voice of science
Fiorella Belpoggi of the Ramazzini Institute offers a statement that leaves no room for different readings. (3) 396.5 kg/year of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers are used on each hectare of agricultural land in Italy (50g in organic crops). Millions of different formulations-whose exact composition remains unknown-have been released and continue to accumulate in the environment.
The causal link between cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and pesticide exposure is certain. The occurrence of these diseases is higher in workers in the agricultural sector. The Ramazzini Institute’s pilot study of formulas with glyphosate, in turn, confirms its genotoxicity and carcinogenicity at levels theoretically considered ‘safe’. Primary prevention is essential, especially to protect pre- and postnatal and elderly populations.
Patrizia Gentilini
, a hematologic oncologist from ISDE (
International Society of Doctors for Environment
),
reveals data on agriculture that jar with the pleasant representations of Campagna Amica. Italy employs 5.7kg of active ingredients per hectare of UAA (Utilized Agricultural Area), moreover increasing (+7%). This compares with a European consumption average of 3.8 kg/ha, which is declining.
Water contamination, according to official ISPRA data, has exceeded 70 percent of surface water sources and 35 percent of groundwater sources. 259 drinking toxics, including atrazine that has now been banned for a quarter century and yet is present, in groundwater, to an unchanged extent.
The drift effect means that the target of the pesticide receives only a negligible amount of the substance, which is toxic to all living organisms and inevitably reaches non-target species. To the point that organophosphorus (also used as nerve gas for warfare purposes) and organochlorines, dioxins and PCBs routinely appear in bio-monitoring of pregnant women.
There are about 18 thousand peer-reviewed scientific papers reviewed on PubMed-dedicated to the relationship between pesticides and human health. An entire issue of Paediatrics was devoted to children’s exposure to pesticides. Meta-analyses reveal a statistically significant increased risk of leukemia and other cancers. In addition to cognitive impairments, whose annual public health costs in the EU are estimated at €194 billion.
‘Children’s brains are in our hands‘, explains Patrizia Gentilini. In the US, the epicenter of industrial agriculture based on pesticide-resistant GMO crops, there is now 1 case of autism Every 59 children. (4) A prevalence that has nearly tripled in the past two decades (autistic children in the US were 1 in 150 in 2000), which is associated with, among other things, a significant increase in clostridia in the gut microbial environment.
The hallmark of pesticides is precisely their ability to alter the functionality of other living things. And it is inevitable that they will produce even serious harmful effects on complex systems such as humans. Neurotoxicity, all types of cancer, severe alteration of gut microbial environment. A recent investigation in Trentino, an apple orchard area, in revealing the presence of metabolites of agrotoxics in the urine of the population, found deficits in DNA repair mechanisms.
No pesticides. Politics, promises and betrayals
Marco Affronte, MEP of the European Greens (‘European Greens‘, LINK) who has always been close to the ‘No pesticides’ group, confirms full support for our shared demands. As well as supporting the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Pesticide-Free Cities,’ promoted by PAN(Pesticides Action Network) Europe.
Silvia Benedetti, MP (Mixed Group), has already received several solicitations from the Valdobbiadene area, where citizens’ rights have given way to the interests of a production sector. Consider it necessary to work on 3 floors:
- Provide farmers with an alternative path from truly integrated farming to organic farming,
- Calling producers (including agrochemical giants) to their responsibilities,
- Expand security measures. The current NAP provides a minimum distance (of only 30 meters) from sensitive areas, which are indicated only ‘by way of example but not exhaustively‘.
Sara Cunial, M5S MP, receives the petition of which she confirms her unconditional support. It itself has an organic farm enterprise and is logically in line with our views. It needs bottom-up push, critical consciousness, and farmer training.
The ‘sludge decree’ approved by the Lega-M5S government, moreover, represents an unacceptable betrayal of election promises. (5) Dr. Gentilini points out how the sludge decree significantly increases risks to human health by effectively authorizing the contamination of soils with dangerous amounts of hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PCBs, hexavalent chromium, toluene.
No pesticides, the battle continues
There are no conclusions in a battle that continues unabated until public and environmental health find effective protection in Italy and the EU. Agriculture must change paradigm, polluters must not only pay but first and foremost not be put in a position to poison their neighbors. We need controls, including on the sale of agrotoxics through e-commerce, and deterrent penalties. (6)
Let’s not let up, let’s keep the pressure and visibility on the names of politicians, friends of health and environment and traitors. Regardless of flags, colors and banners.
Children fist!
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) The
dir. 2009/128/EC
, transposed in Italy by
d.lgs. 150/12
, provides for mandatory training ‘
on the risks and safety to human health and the environment’
related to the use
of
Pesticides by professional users. Who must obtain a special license to come qualified to purchase such substances. Which, however, are sold on Amazon and other sites, in defiance of every rule and intervention by the Ministry of Health and MiPAAFT. See the article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/ecommerce-contrabbando-di-pesticidi
(2) And yet, it is precisely in the agricultural sector that the polluter does not pay. To the point that those responsible for accidental contamination of organic products with pesticide residues are not those responsible for poison spills but the organic operators themselves. And it is the latter therefore who are forced to take safe distances from their polluting neighbors, rather than vice versa. See the article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/biologico-reg-ue-2018-848
(3) SEE ANNEX
(4) For insights into the starry-eyed agricultural model, please refer to our free ebook ‘GMOs the Big Scam‘
(5) Other unacceptable League-M5S betrayals that it is worth mentioning:
-JEFTA, green light for toxic treaty between EU and Japan, where GMO contamination is tolerated up to 5 percent
-Russia, defect in opposition to renewal of unwarranted sanctions against top global producer of strictly non-GMO agricultural commodities
(6) See footnote 1
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
