2023-10-19 14:20:00
During the 2010 decade, sales of plant protection products remained at high levelsreports an inventory from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion dating from 2018. The share of quantities of active substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) has thus increased from 28% to 12% between 2009 and 2020.
What is a pesticide? What are the 3 types of known pesticides?
Pesticides are products whose chemical properties contribute to the protection of plants, defines the French Institute of Education (Ifé) (Source 1). “They are intended to destroy, limit or repel elements undesirable to the growth of plants, insects, parasites and other plants. They fight against crop diseases or are used for weeding.”
We are talking about pesticides or phytopharmaceutical products to designate products used in the agricultural field, and the maintenance of green spaces, adds the Léon Bernard Cancer Center (Source 2).
Pesticides are exclusively of anthropogenic origin (human-made).
There are three main families of pesticides:
- Insecticides : intended to combat insects. They intervene by killing or preventing the reproduction of insects, these are often the most toxic. Among them, arsenic, POPs (persistent organic pollutants), lindane and carbaryl;
- Fungicides : intended to eliminate mold and parasites (fungi, etc.) from plants. “The oldest fungicides are sulfur, copper and its organic derivatives such as Bordeaux mixture,” note l’Institut ;
- Les herbicides : intended to combat certain plants (the ” weeds “), which compete with the plants to be protected by slowing down their growth. The best known herbicides are sulfuric acid, used to weed cereals, and phytohormones (2-4 D) as well as derivatives of 2-phenoxyetahnoic acid.
We can add a fourth family : THE special pesticides, such as rodent repellents, and smoke bombs.
To note : herbicides are quite different in nature from that of the other three families. “On the one hand, their action is not to intervene against an intruder of a different nature (insect/parasite), but to fight against another plant. On the other hand, their method of spreading is different since they are placed directly on the ground, as opposed to other products, which are rather sprayed on the growing plant.explains the Institute.
Why are pesticides toxic? How can they contaminate humans?
THE sources of pesticide exposure of the general population are found in all compartments of the environment, notes the Léon Bernard Center: food (fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, eggs, dairy products, honey, etc.), water, indoor and outdoor air, soil, dust , gardens, and even pets…
Exposure of the general population to pesticides is characterized not only by repeated exposures over timeand sometimes high, but also by the multiplicity of exposure routes : ingestion, inhalation and skin contact. But then, why is this problematic?
Quite simply because “Pesticides are designed to kill ‘pests,’ but some pesticides can also have harmful effects on human health,” explains the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) (Source 3). “The likelihood of experiencing adverse health effects depends on the type of pesticide and other chemicals it contains, the amount you are exposed to, and the duration and frequency of exposure.”
What are the effects and dangers of pesticides on health?
The main knowledge on the acute effects of pesticides comes fromobservations reported among workers and cases of poisoning documented by poison control and toxicovigilance centers, continues the Ministry of Health and Prevention (Source 4).
Demonstrations may be limited to local signs :
- cutaneous and mucosal irritations;
- allergic skin or eye reactions;
- vomiting;
- cough ;
- difficulty breathing ;
- reflect the damage to one or more organs or systems (nervous system, liver, kidney in particular).
Several studies, and in particular an Inserm expert opinion, have reported positive associations between occupational exposure to pesticides and certain pathologies in adults such as Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer and certain hematopoietic cancers (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma).
Results obtained in California show a risk of developing Parkinson’s disease almost twice as high for people living up to 500 meters from plots treated with two fungicides. Pesticides could also cause cognitive disorders, anxiety-depression and fertility disorders. Not to mention that mixtures of substances could give rise to “unpredictable health impacts”.
What are the risks for children?
In children, the risk of leukemia and of brain tumors can be multiplied by two when the mother was exposed during pregnancy.
« The fetus is a priori more vulnerable because it does not yet have a detoxification system”, specifies Cécile Chevrier, researcher at Inserm, who, according to a study carried out on 3,400 pregnant residents, showed that even at low levels, a herbicide used up to ‘in 2003, increases the risk of growth abnormalities in the uterus, with lower birth weight and a smaller skull.
Pesticides would also increase the risk ofnervous system abnormalities as well as malformations congenital in the heart, abdomen, arms and legs. They could also cause a malformation of the male sex and early puberty among young girls. Finally, it cannot be ruled out that certain substances also promote obesity in children.
A study conducted by Inserm and published in October 2023 shows that children under 15 who live near a large vineyard are at greater risk of suffering from leukemia. ” On average for each 10% increase in the share covered by the vines within the perimeter of 1000 meters, the risk of lymphoblastic leukemia increases by almost 10% », specifies Inserm, which estimates that “exposure to pesticides is suspected of being a risk factor for pediatric cancersand more particularly leukemia” (source 8).
What is the most dangerous pesticide used in agriculture?
The closer you live to an area treated with phytosanitary products, the greater the risk of breathing toxic molecules.
These volatile substances disperse in the atmosphere over kilometers. Air quality measurements show higher levels of pesticides in spraying areas and during treatments, says Ghislaine Bouvier, researcher at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). For example in Gironde, the air in a wine-growing town is twenty times more loaded with molecules of folpel, a very widespread fungicide, than that of a town without vines.
Glyphosate is the most dangerous pesticide because it is the most widespread in the world. This herbicide, which is the most sold in the world, is classified as potentially carcinogenic, indicates the Greenpeace association (Source 5). “It is better known under the trademark Round Up from Monsanto and it is associated with certain GMO. He was faced with many problems of resistance, particularly in the United States.”
In France, pesticides containing glyphosate have been banned for individuals since 2019 but remain permitted in agriculture. “They are mainly used to eradicate all plants from fields before sowing new crops (wheat, corn, rapeseed, etc.) or to manage weeds between rows of vines or in orchards. Very inexpensive and very effectivethe molecule has become, after decades of use, an essential part of certain cultivation methods throughout the world. indicates the Foodwatch organization (Source 6).
Glyphosate et cancer
In March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) published a meta-analysis on glyphosate. Their conclusion? Glyphosate is « probably carcinogenic in humans »(category 2A) and “carcinogenic” in animals, says Foodwatch.
In 2021, a meta-analysis published by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) confirms these results: “numerous studies highlight genotoxic damage (DNA breaks or changes in its structure) linked to glyphosate. This damage, if it is not repaired without error by the cells, can lead to the appearance of mutations and thus trigger a process of carcinogenesis..
Inserm also notes the potentially deleterious effects of glyphosate on certain hormones and on the intestinal microbiota. He also does not rule out the risk that it is endocrine disruptor.
However, today, glyphosate is still not considered carcinogenic by theEuropean Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Dangerous pesticides: what does the law say?
The regulation of pesticides, set at European level, is defined according to the types of use: plant protection products, biocides and veterinary medicines. Each product is subject, after evaluation, to a Marketing Authorization (AMM), informs the Ministry of Health and Prevention (Source 7).
“Directive 2009/128/EC provides that each Member State implements an action plan aimed at reducing the risks and effects of the use of pesticides on humans and the environment. In France, this is the Ecophyto II + plan, the aim of which is to reduce the use of plant protection products by 50% by 2025 and to limit the risks and impacts on health and the environment”.
Regarding the presence of pesticides in water and food:
- in food, regulations determine maximum residue limits (MRLs), for each pesticide and for a defined commodity, which must not be exceeded in order to guarantee the lowest possible level of exposure to consumers;
- tap water is subject to regular health monitoring, so as to guarantee its quality for the population.
Dangers linked to pesticides: protection of local residents in agricultural areas
Pesticides “containing a substance suspected of being carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction” are subject to a ban on spreading within 10 meters of homes, since a decree published by the government in 2023 (source 9). Certain products proven to be harmful should not be used within 20 meters of homes, but also schools or hospitals.
What you can do:
- Find out about the precise spraying periods, via the Chamber of Agriculture for example, in order to ventilate your home outside these times;
- Put in place additional protection (wooden cladding, hedges, etc.);
- Report any non-compliance with the rules to the Draaf (Regional Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry).
Consequences of pesticides on health: chilling testimonies
“We can’t continue to poison people legally!” “. Pascale Mothes is convinced of this: “Pesticides caused leukemia from which my son suffered”. This woman lived for a long time in the town of Preignac, in Gironde. In this village, vines occupy more than half of the territory. His house was twenty meters from a plot of land, and the school where Lucas, his son, attended, was less than a meter from the first bunches of grapes.
Several times, Pascale and her loved ones were inconvenienced by pesticide spraying. “We had to lock ourselves in because it stung our eyes, noses and throats, in addition to giving us headaches,” she remembers. The same symptoms were described in May 2014 by schoolchildren from Villeneuve, in Haute-Gironde, after the spraying of pesticides on the vines located one meter from the playground, while the wind was blowing too strong to treat.
These testimonies from local residents are not isolated and are not limited to the Bordeaux region. ANSES (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) received seventy-four in 2015. The majority come from Limousin, Rhône-Alpes, Brittany and Aquitaine; 35% of these complainants live near orchards, 16% near vineyards. More than half of them describe problems, such as irritated eyes or breathing problems.
What are the longer-term risks? Could pesticides be the cause of young Lucas’s cancer, for example? In Preignac, the Aquitaine Regional Health Agency and the Health Surveillance Institute sought to find out if a relationship existed. Because besides Lucas, two other children from this village were victims of cancer that could be linked to pesticides between 1999 and 2006, a rate six times higher than the national average. Their study does not exclude this hypothesis, but it does not conclude that pesticides are responsible either.
1697799592
#Pesticides #health #dangers