Yesterday, Wednesday, the plenary session of the European Parliament cancelled the import of food products that contain pesticide residues whose use is banned in the EU by rejecting two European Commission decisions that authorized a maximum residue limit for these pesticides.
Precisely, environmentalists in action revealed the 10 fresh foods containing the most pesticides consumed in Spainfollowing an analysis published by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) with 1,743 samples of food sold in Spain in 2022.
Pesticide discharge
The European Parliament’s rejection yesterday concerned substances such as cyproconazole and spirodiclofen, present in products such as cereals, seeds, meat, liver And kidneysor others like benomyl, carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl in citrus fruits like lemons, limes either tangerines.
The European Chamber rejected the Commission’s decision on cyproconazole and spirodiclofen by 522 votes in favour, 127 against and 28 abstentions and by 516 votes in favour, 129 against and 27 abstentions in the case of benomyl, carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl. An absolute majority of at least 359 Members was required to reject the Commission’s decisions.
In this context, the study of ecological organization gives a list of fresh products which reach consumers in their report Straight to your hormones. Pesticide residues in Spanish foods.
Spain, leader in pesticides
Ecologists in Action claims that Spain ishas been the leader in pesticide sales in the European Union for years. For example, in 2022, the latest year for which data is available, Spain moved from first to second place, but “only because there was a 26% reduction in sales, which was not due to a reduction policy, but to the severe drought already underway.” European ban on certain pesticides.
In 2022, France contributed 21% of total pesticide sales in the European Union, followed by 18% of total pesticide sales. Spain15% of Germany and 14% of Italy.
The study analyses the results of AESAN to make visible the presence of pesticides, focusing on the detection of three particularly toxic groups: unauthorized substances, candidate substances to be replaced due to their high toxicity and those that have the ability to alter the hormonal system or endocrine disruptors.
Hormonal contaminants (endocrine disruptors or endocrine disruptors) are chemicals that alter the synthesis, release, transport, metabolism, action or elimination of natural hormones, modify the functioning of the human and animal hormonal system.
Less sampling
A first result of the study is that the initial analysis data are less representative each year, since AESAN continues its downward trend in the number of samples takenwhich places Spain at the bottom of the EU with 3.61 samples per 100,000 inhabitants.
Foods sold in 2022, both imported and produced by the state, They had residues of 106 pesticideswhich means that 36% of the samples contained residues of one or more pesticides. This percentage rises to 43% for vegetables and fruits.
More specifically, up to 59 endocrine disrupting pesticides were detected, including DDT32 pesticides not authorised in the European Union. In addition, the report provides that 17 candidate pesticides have also been identified for replacement due to their carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction, endocrine disruption or meeting two of the following three characteristics: persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity.
Combination of substances
For the organization, the population is exposed to all these pesticides “which are present in food, even if it is in small quantities, since in 99% of cases did not violate legal limitswhich need to be reviewed because they do not take into account the fact that hormone-disrupting pesticides act at very low doses.
They add that they also do not take into account legal limits. combined effect of a multitude of substancesan effect that endangers food safety and cannot be analyzed in any toxicity study, “which the scientific community warns against.”
Cocktail of pesticides
“He a cocktail of pesticides occurs 22% of the time“, in the same food, with several samples contaminated by various pesticides (the extreme case is that of a pear sample that contained residues of 9 different pesticides)”, explains Ecologistas en Acción.
And it wouldn’t just affect consumers, since The health of people working in the field is also at risk.too many times, without adequate security measures.
Another side effect, no less relevant, is that these compounds “lead to the devastation of the natural environment which surrounds the fields in which pesticides are applied, seriously affecting biodiversity,” adds the environmental entity.
List of foods containing pesticides
THE fruits and vegetables This is the group where the greatest number of pesticide residues were detected, 96 different substances, of which 58 are endocrine disruptors.
Foods containing the highest number of EDC pesticides are tomatoes (19) and the apples And oranges (16). The total number of different pesticides detected was much higher, 31 for tomatoes, 22 for apples and 21 for oranges.
The report points out that “every year, the order of this pollution ranking changes. This is due to the discretion of the sampling and pesticides applied, which can vary for various reasons, such as climate. But what persists, whatever the order they occupy, is the significant contamination of fruits and vegetables from conventional agricultural production.
Glisophato, the bestseller
Finally, it is noted that the pesticides present are more numerous than those analyzed, “since AESAN does not look in its analyses for the presence of substances actually used in agriculture, such as glyphosate, second best-selling pesticide in Spain in 2022but whose presence was not sought in any sample.
In conclusion, the report states that it follows that Spain continues betting on a food system heavily dependent on pesticides which endangers the health of the population, workers and nature.
Improved controls
The document highlights that the Spanish Food Safety Agency “must improve food control, increasing the number of samples analyzed, as well as the number of pesticides analyzed in each sample, among which: plant protection products must be included actually used in fields, such as glyphosate.
On the other hand, for Ecologists in Action, “the The Ministry of Agriculture should change the line it has been following for too many years and help foods produced in Spain to differentiate themselves as healthy and non-toxic products that allow their producers to live with dignity.
