PRESS RELEASE   6 January 2005

PESTICIDES -
HOW A DAILY DIET OF STEALTH POISONS IS UNDERMINING OUR HEALTH

New disclosures in a report from Pesticide Action Network UK reveal pesticides everywhere. For the first time, a year’s official reports of pesticides in our food, water, and the environment have been brought together. In People’s pesticide exposures – poisons we are exposed to every day without knowing it, government data are set out beside the results of PAN UK’s unique surveys.

PAN has discovered that, in some drinking water tests, every single pesticide, of dozens tested for, is detected – mostly below the legal limit. Problem pesticides occur repeatedly. Certain local authorities responsible for private drinking water supplies have not tested for pesticides since 1991, when regulations were introduced.

‘Drinking water is not as pesticide-free as we like to think’, says Alison Craig of PAN. ‘Who wants a lifetime of small doses of multiple poisons in their food and water? Some scientists suspect these toxins as a cause of chronic disease. We shouldn’t have these exposures.’

Food contamination is a growing problem and now an acknowledged risk to young children and the elderly. According to the latest European Commission figures, safety thresholds for toddlers are drastically breached. PAN’s unique analysis reveals a cocktail of chemicals in food. Mostly, but not always, below legal limits, 65 per cent of them are recognised hazards to health: 35 per cent are suspected cancer-causing chemicals, 12 per cent are hormone-disrupting chemicals, and 41 per cent are acutely toxic.

‘This is a powerful case for a more precautionary approach to pesticides’, says toxicopathologist Dr Vyvyan Howard from Liverpool University. ‘If you want a rounded view of the exposures we all have, and the risks to our health, read this report.

Contacts:
Alison Craig,  tel 020 7065 0914,  (m) 07709 730561
alisoncraig@pan-uk.org
Barbara Dinham,  tel 020 7065 0910,  (m) 07950 414244
barbaradinham@pan-uk.org