‘Don’t Worry, You Will Not Be Exposed to This Very Harmful Pesticide’

September 30, 2024 | Source: Pesticide Action Network

The Commission proposes the renewal of the ‘reprotoxic’ fungicide 8-hydroxyquinoline, based on the claim of “negligible exposure” to humans. This exceptional clause of negligible exposure allows for the approval of highly hazardous pesticides if it can be convincingly proven that there will be no contact with humans according to the Pesticide Regulation. Worryingly, such a robust demonstration was not provided for 8-hydroxyquinoline. PAN Europe is calling upon Member States to reject the Commission’s proposal and ban 8-hydroxyquinoline to protect human health.

Classified as toxic for reproduction category 1B since 2015, 8-hydroxyquinoline is presumed to “damage the unborn child.” Under the EU Pesticide Regulation, substances that present such hazards cannot be approved. An exception is possible if negligible exposure to humans can be convincingly demonstrated. Negligible exposure should be strictly understood as conditions of use excluding contact with humans and resulting in no residues of the pesticide in food.

Member States and the Commission have not reached a consensus yet on a guidance document to assess and define negligible exposure in the course of pesticide risk assessment. As a result, this clause of negligible exposure has never resulted in the approval of a hazardous pesticide since the Pesticide Regulation came into force in 2011.

This situation could change as the Commission is now proposing to renew 8-hydroxyquinoline in permanent greenhouses by drip-irrigation building on the negligible exposure clause. Worryingly, the data presented by the applicant and summarised in EFSA’s peer review conclusions fall short of the rigorous scientific standards required to justify the renewal of this hazardous substance and do not present realistic use conditions.

For substances known or presumed to be genotoxic or endocrine disruptors, no threshold is considered safe, particularly for pregnant women, newborns and children. For this precise reason, the use of the ‘negligible exposure’ could completely twist the purpose of the Regulation, which is to remove harmful substances from the EU market rather than to try to mitigate the related risks.