
EU warn pesticides are far more dangerous than was thought - vixen99
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/02/organic-foods-backed-landmark-report-warning-pesticides-far/
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dazc
Article can be read here: [https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-
telegraph/20170603/...](https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-
telegraph/20170603/281492161280120)

I think it's this report from 2016
[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/58192...](http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/581922/EPRS_STU\(2016\)581922_EN.pdf)

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lumberjack
From the report, it's not just pesticides but anything that contains
organophosphates which includes herbicides as well including the very infamous
Monsanto herbicide.

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sunflowershine
I found another academic paper Neurobehavioural effects of developmental
toxicity

Lancet Neurology

"Untested chemicals should not be presumed to be safe to brain development,
and chemicals in existing use and all new chemicals must therefore be tested
for developmental neurotoxicity. "

"Acute pesticide poisoning occurs frequently in children worldwide, and
subclinical pesticide toxicity is also widespread. Clinical data suggest that
acute pesticide poisoning during childhood might lead to lasting
neurobehavioural deficits"

[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-44...](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422\(13\)70278-3/fulltext?_eventId=login)

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AHatLikeThat
The complete article is paywalled, but what is available gives no citation. I
could find no recent pesticides report on the EU website.

I am pro-organics, but I question the veracity of the telegraph's article. At
the least, I think this post should be linked to the actual EU report, if one
does exist.

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ciconia
DO you really need proof that poison is bad for you?

~~~
gonvaled
What is poison?

Water is poison: drinking 50 liters in 1 minute will kill you.

~~~
qubex
I guess that a 'poison' is a chemical that kills by biological effects...
drinking fifty litres of water in a minute will kill you by mechanical means,
which is kind of beside the point... the element iron is also a lethal if five
hundred kilograms collide with you at a hundred metres per second, but you
haven't been 'poisoned'.

~~~
gonvaled
My point is that _anything_ is poison, depending on dosage. Even water, the
basis of terrestian life, although I know I am stretching the analogy there.

But yes, water will destroy your cellular membranes if exposed to it in big
quantities for a long time. Those are chemical (biological) effects.

~~~
qubex
(I'm just picking your brain because now I'm curious.)

How about a noble gas? Presumably those are chemically inert enough to not
cause anything chemical/biological at all?

~~~
gonvaled
Nature does not care about our definitions, and properties are usually on a
gray scale, not black-white. Inert gas have very low reactivity [1], but they
can still react:

> Nonetheless, low reactivity—instead of no reactivity, as had formerly been
> thought—characterizes the rare gases. One of the factors governing the
> reactivity of an element is its electron configuration, and the electrons of
> the noble gases are arranged in such a way as to discourage bonding with
> other elements.

That said, I would probably classify noble gases as perfectly safe, since
damage from exposure to them will more likely come from mechanical
interactions, and not biological / chemical.

[1] [http://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-
technology/chemistry...](http://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-
technology/chemistry/compounds-and-elements/noble-gases)

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sunflowershine
And I found one report from EU website

Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture

[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/58192...](http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/581922/EPRS_STU\(2016\)581922_EN.pdf)

p.29 In order to assess the potential health risk for consumers associated
with exposure to dietary pesticides, epidemiological studies of sensitive
health outcomes and their links to exposure measures have to be relied on. The
main focus so far has been on cognitive deficits in children in relation to
their mother’s exposure level to organophosphate insecticides during
pregnancy. This line of research is highly appropriate given the known
neurotoxicity of many pesticides in laboratory animal models [162] and the
substantial vulnerability of the human brain during early development [180].
Most of the human studies have been carried out in the US and have focused on
assessing brain functions in children with different levels of prenatal
organophosphate exposure. In a longitudinal birth cohort study among
farmworkers in California (the CHAMACOS cohort), maternal urinary
concentrations of organophosphate metabolites in pregnancy are associated with
abnormal reflexes in neonates [181], adverse mental development at two years
of age [182], attention problems at three and a half and five years [183], and
poorer intellectual development at seven years [184]. In accordance with this,
a birth cohort study from New York reported impaired cognitive development at
the ages 12 and 24 months and six to nine years related to maternal urine
concentrations of organophosphates in pregnancy [185]. In another New York
inner-city birth cohort, concentration of the organophosphate chlorpyrifos in
umbilical cord blood has been found to be associated with delayed psychomotor
and mental development in children in the first three years of life [186],
poorer working memory and full-scale IQ at seven years of age [187],
structural changes, including decreased cortical thickness, in the brain of
the children at school age [188], and mild to moderate tremor in the arms at
11 years of age [189]. Based on these studies, chlorpyrifos has recently been
categorised as a human developmental neurotoxicant [190]. Several reviews of
neurodevelopmental effects of organophosphate insecticides in humans have been
conducted and most of them conclude that exposure during pregnancy, at levels
found among groups of the general population, may have negative effects on
children’s neurodevelopment [191-193]. A few reviews find the evidence for
such effects less convincing [194, 195]. The discrepancy in conclusions is
probably related to the large variability in study designs and the
methodologies used to assess exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes across
studies, as well as differences in the procedure used for including studies in
the reviews.

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sunflowershine
You can find the complete article here [https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-
daily-telegraph/20170603/...](https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-
telegraph/20170603/281492161280120)

And I copy and paste it below Pesticides in food may damage the brain • The
Daily Telegraph • 3 Jun 2017 • By Laura Donnelly Mr Varadkar did not win the
bulk of Fine Gael’s membership but was backed by 51 council members and 73 of
the party’s MPS CONSUMERS should consider going organic because pesticides on
foods are far more dangerous than was thought, causing damage to the human
brain, a study suggests. The research, published by the European Parliament,
warns of the “very high costs” of current levels of exposure to pesticides –
especially for children and pregnant women. It could result in new limits on
pesticide levels or changes to the labelling of foodstuffs under EU laws which
require the UK to review its policies by next year. The study suggests that
the damage caused by pesticides across the EU amounts to at least £125billion
a year, based on the loss of lifetime income from such damage. The report
warns of increasing evidence that residues from insecticides are damaging the
brain, and reducing the IQ of the population. And it raises concerns that the
chemicals could also cause cancer and damage to the reproductive system. The
research, commissioned by the European Parliament, is a review of scientific
evidence about the impact of organic food on human health. It says previous
attempts to assess the impact of pesticides have disregarded too much of the
research, raising concerns that regulation of insecticides has been
inadequate. The study was carried out by the parliament’s Scientific Foresight
Unit, led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Scientists. “At least 100
different pesticides are known to cause adverse neurological effects in
adults, and all of these substances must therefore be suspected of being
capable of damaging developing brains as well,” the report states. “Such
adverse effects are likely to be lasting and one main outcome is cognitive
deficits, often expressed in terms of losses of IQ points. “The combined
evidence suggests that current exposures to certain pesticides in the EU may
cost at least €125 billion per year, as calculated from the loss of lifetime
income due to the lower IQS associated with prenatal exposure.” It goes on to
describe the calculation as “almost certainly an underestimate” as it does not
consider the possible contribution made by pesticides to conditions such as
Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. The researchers
recommend limiting exposure to non-organic fruit and vegetables – and say
particular care should be taken by pregnant women and children. “The evidence
reviewed in this report shows that a decreased exposure from the general
population is desirable from a human health perspective, in light of the
findings from epidemiological studies that indicate very high costs of current
levels of pesticide exposures,” the report says. Previous attempts to assess
the risks have not taken proper account of epidemiological studies, which look
at the health of whole populations, instead of limiting themselves to
scientific trials, it suggests. “Of major concern, these risk assessments
disregard evidence from epidemiological studies that show negative effects of
low-level exposure to organophosphate insecticides on children’s cognitive
development,” it states. And it raises concerns that risk assessment of
pesticides is inadequate, failing to examine any increased risk of cancer, as
well as impacts on the body’s hormones and nervous system. Lead author,
Assistant Professor Axel Mie, said: “Several practices in organic agriculture,
in particular the low use of pesticides and antibiotics, offer benefits for
human health.” Under an EU directive, member states are required to publish a
national plan to reduce risks from pesticides every five years, with the UK
required to update its restrictions by 2018. US studies have shown women’s
exposure to pesticides during pregnancy were associated with negative impacts
on their children’s IQ and neurobehavioural development. Dr Chris Hartfield,
of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “Pesticides are among the most
stringently regulated products in the world. This European Parliament report
makes it quite clear that our understanding in these areas is limited, the
evidence is not conclusive.”

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singularity2001
Without any specific proof it is now consensus here™ that pesticides are the
main culprit that almost everyone has allergies now and most bees are dead.

