The European Food Safety Authority is not alarmed by the danger of pesticides. For these experts, only two pathologies could have a link with an exposure.
“Despite a large volume of data, firm conclusions cannot be drawn for the majority of the health effects considered. This is the surprisingly surprising response from the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) regarding the supposed negative impact of pesticides on human health. In a report published this Friday, these European scientists in fact contradict on several points, a collective expertise of Inserm published in June, which concluded that pesticides seriously harm health.
The impact of pesticides on two pathologies
EFSA indicates that it was based on 602 publications on epidemiological associations between exposure to pesticides and various health effects. For these European experts, “the entire spectrum of health effects had not been studied before. “They therefore looked at 24 pathologies. As a result for the European health authority, “these disappointing conclusions are consistent with previous epidemiological studies on the environment. ”
In the light of this work, Efsa indicates that it has identified only two pathologies whose risk of occurrence was statistically associated with exposure to pesticides: childhood leukemia and Parkinson’s disease. We are therefore a long way from the alarming Inserm report which warned of the many dangers of pesticides for farmers, but also for local residents!
The alarming report from Inserm
In its work, Inserm relied on a multidisciplinary group of experts. According to data published over the past 30 years, the Institute stated that there appears to be “a positive association between occupational exposure to pesticides and certain pathologies in adults. ”Among them, Inserm warned on the one hand about the increased risk of prostate cancer that exists among farmers, workers in pesticide production plants and rural populations (between 12 and 28%, according to the populations). For other cancers, “an excess risk of leukemia cannot be ruled out,” said the report.
On the other hand, the collective expertise of the Institute was interested in the risks of neurodegenerative diseases linked to this form of exposure. An increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease has been observed in people occupationally exposed to pesticides.
Finally, Inserm pointed out that there are now numerous epidemiological studies suggesting a link between prenatal exposure to pesticides and the development of the child, in the short and medium term. Here again, there are very worrying consequences.
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