Pesticides

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The French parliament has adopted a law which prohibits the private or public use of pesticides from 2020 in green areas, forests or public space.

 

The law which is to start from 1 January 2020 for private individuals and the public excludes the use of pesticides on railways, airport runways or motorways.

 

From 1 January 2022, it will be prohibited to place pesticides for non-professional use on the market, to be sold, used or in the possession of someone. Anyone using or found with banned pesticide products could be imprisoned for up to six months with a 30,000 EUR fine. These prohibitions do not apply to the necessary measures such as the destruction and prevention of the spread of pests.

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The Times of India - ANI, Pesticides are not only responsible for a decline in bee populations but they can also affect human health and harm the brain development of unborn babies, according to European safety experts.

 

Researchers at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found that pesticide imidacloprid was associated with brain shrinkage, and reduced activity in nerve signals in newborn rats, while the other, acetamiprid led to reduced weight and reaction times, the Independent reported.

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Business Standard - Dilip Kumar Jha | Mumbai, The fifth largest importer finds pesticides residues higher than permissible level, warns to take action soon

 

Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, has said pesticide residues in the commodity are higher than permissible levels. It has threatened to take strong action in the near future.

 

In an advisory to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), the government of Saudi Arabia said high levels of pesticide residues were detected in two consignments of green chilli. "It has been brought to the notice of authorities of KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) that in some recent consignments of vegetables from India, there have been interceptions of higher than permissible levels of residues of pesticides. If the situation persists, the government of KSA will take strong action in the near future," the advisory said.

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The Times of India - Garima Prasher | TNN - BANGALORE: Probably it's time to take a closer look at what's on your platter. Cypermethrin, heptachlor, quinalphos, aldrin, chlorodane, dichlorvas, cypermethrin \97 these banned pesticides could well be a part of your regular diet. Okras, leafy green cabbages and other vegetables, bananas or oranges and apples that you so relish may be overloaded with some of these harmful pesticides.

 

A study by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Union agriculture ministry threw up some unpalatable facts. Common food items contain banned pesticides in quantities a thousand times more than the permissible limits. The findings are based on random samples collected from across the country.

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The Telegraph India - OUR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT - New Delhi, The Supreme Court today directed all states and Union territories to conduct periodic checks on the markets within their territories for high levels of pesticides and insecticides in the foodstuff they sell.

 

A two-judge bench hearing a public interest litigation agreed with the Centre that the various food safety laws did cover all the areas of concern mentioned by the petitioner, but added: “The question is only with regard to their enforcement.”

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The Hindu - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Excessive amounts of Malathion, a general use pesticide, have been detected in a rice sample collected for inspection from the Food Corporation of India godown at Valiyathura here.

 

Traces of uric acid, indicating presence of pests, were also found in three to four samples, of a total of nine samples that were collected in raids conducted on August 1.

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The Hindu - NEW DELHI, AARTI DHAR, Chapra incident an important reminder, says the United Nations organisation

 

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Thursday said the death of 23 children at Chapra in Bihar after eating school meal contaminated with monocrotophos was an important reminder to speed up the withdrawal of highly hazardous pesticides from markets in the developing countries.

 

Monocrotophos is an organophosphorus pesticide considered highly hazardous by FAO and World Health Organisation (WHO).

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DNA India - Agency: Reuters, In the school tragedy, police suspect the children's lunch was cooked in oil that was stored in a used container of monocrotophos.

 

Nearly a decade ago, the government ruled out a ban on the production and use of monocrotophos, the highly toxic pesticide that killed 23 children this month in a Bihar village school providing free lunches under the government-sponsored mid-day meal programme.

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Chicago Tribune - Kerry Grens Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Farmers who used weedkillers were more than twice as likely to be treated for depression than farmers who didn't use the chemicals in a new study from France.

 

Whether the weedkillers are causing depression "is not clear," said Marc Weisskopf, the study's lead author and an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. "But (the result) suggests we should not be ignoring herbicides just because they're targeting plants."