UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Releases 1997

[Index]

PESTICIDES:
USE AND MISUSE, BENEFITS AND HAZARDS WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

23 May 1997

Round Table, Tuesday, 27 May 1997, at 3 p.m.
Conference Room VII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Pesticides are organic chemicals that are widely used in agriculture, gardening and forestry. Although they help to control pests and, hence, safeguard the yield of food, cotton, timber and other crops, many of them pose serious health risks, both to those who (mis)handle them and to the millions of people who are exposed to pesticide residue in agricultural produce, drinking water or sea-food for instance.

Some widely used pesticides are persistent in nature, or bioaccumulate and biomagnify in fatty tissues and, therefore, pose a particular threat. Chemicals combining these properties are known as persistent organic pollutants or POPs. Some of them are thought to disrupt endocrine glands, and may have harmful effects on male reproduction. Due to the persistence of some pesticides and their long-range transport through air and water, the problem takes on a global dimension.

The Round Table will bring together specialists from ministries, industry, the scientific community and NGOs. These panellists will address the short-term benefits of pesticides as well as their long-term risks. They will outline the major policy implications for agriculture and national health programmes. In particular, scientists will report on the effects on human health and the environment, producers will present their views on pesticide production, development and export, representatives of agriculture their concern that necessary and safe production should be upheld, regulators their work on agreements to eliminate and restrict certain pesticides, and NGOs will voice their concerns about the environmental hazards of pesticide use. The Round Table will also address the current situation in countries with economies in transition, and assess the needs for assistance to ensure a safer use and management of pesticides and the safe disposal of stockpiles.

Some of the questions that will undoubtedly be raised:

Do pesticides cause cancer and mental retardation? Or are they responsible for falling sperm counts?DDT for malaria vector control: a necessary evil?Do the short-term benefits outweigh the long-term hazards?Occupational exposure -- merely a question of handling or mishandling?Can the ongoing negotiations on POPs stop the long-range air pollution caused by pesticides?