Limousin doctors are sounding the alarm on the health risks associated with the intensive use of pesticides. They are asking for a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides in Limousin by 2020.
“Too many danger signals are red,” explains Dr Michel Perinaud, spokesperson for these angry doctors. For the first time in France, doctors from Limousin officially challenge the regional authorities on the health impact of pesticides in their region. The text, which began to circulate in medical offices in the region a few weeks ago, has 85 signatures of professionals, in Haute-Vienne, Creuse and Corrèze.
Cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children exposed in utero. According to the group, “links have indeed been established in professional agricultural settings between the use of pesticides and some of these pathologies” And these doctors remember thatin May 2012 for example, Parkinson’s disease was classified as an occupational disease by the Mutuelle sociale agricole.
In addition, for the doctors who signed the appeal, “the notion of low dose is not reassuring because many pesticides turn out to be endocrine disruptors suspected of an upsurge in infertility in the French population”. Their fear, “the launch of yet another investigation which would be added to international investigations which are today unchallenged”.
In an agricultural region with activities using a large quantity of pesticides for growing apples, for example, these health professionals recommend the rapid implementation of relatively simple precautionary measures.
Among them, impose dSafety distances from homes to protect local residents who live near these crops or to promote organic crops near waterways which are also widely affected by the intensive use of pesticides. The prohibition of aerial spraying is also called for. But their main demand is a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides in Limousin by 2020.
At the same time, the annual survey by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), published on March 12, once again confirms the significant presence of pesticide residues in food. Food contamination would remain at a high level, with 65% of fruits and 39% of vegetables containing residues on average in Europe according to the surveillance plan. However, according to the report, France would be below these average figures with 53% of fruits and 30% of vegetables contaminated with pesticide residues.
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