Is the Perception of Safe Doses for Pesticides Misleading?

The belief that pesticides, which cause irreversible damage to both human health and the ecosystem, are safe in certain amounts is being refuted by research.

Pesticides Related Inspections

The detection of prohibited pesticide residues and the “cocktail effect” of chemical compounds reveal the inadequacy of pesticide inspections and current regulations. Comprehensive research and stricter measures are an inevitable necessity for both human health and the environment! The continued use of prohibited pesticides and the uncertainty about the fate of products returning from the border increase concerns about food safety. The presence of prohibited pesticide residues in some products exported to Europe in 2024 reveals the need for more comprehensive legal regulations on pesticide use and the need for increased inspections.

Pesticide Poisoning

All pesticides, whether banned or not, pose serious threats to human and environmental health. Approximately 385 million cases of pesticide poisoning are reported worldwide each year. Individuals exposed to pesticides that cause acute and chronic diseases face serious health problems such as heart, lung or kidney failure. It is noted that cancers such as Parkinson's, leukemia, lung, stomach and breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, asthma, allergies, obesity, neurotoxicity and hormonal disorders are increasing worldwide due to the effects of pesticides. The active ingredients of pesticides usually do not remain where they are applied. They can be carried very long distances, even hundreds of kilometers, by leakage, wind or air currents. More than 98% of pesticides and 95% of weed killers harm non-target organisms by mixing into the air, water and soil, regardless of the plant or product they are applied to.

Disruption of Ecological Balance

Pesticides, which harm the environment and other organisms as well as human health, are cited as one of the main causes of insect population declines. A 2018 study found that all insect populations have declined by 41%, and a third of all species are at risk of extinction. According to analyses conducted by the European Environment Agency between 2013 and 2022, between 9% and 25% of all surface water monitoring points were found to have one or more pesticides above the established safety threshold.

Is Safe Dosage Possible?

In the European Union and Turkey, more than 200 pesticide active ingredients have been banned years after being allowed to be used under a certain level and considered safe. This shows that there is no safe dose for pesticides and that scientific studies revealing the harms of these chemicals are increasing. The maximum acceptable level of pesticide residues in food is determined by assuming that the toxic effects of these chemicals will only occur when a certain dose is exceeded. However, studies have shown that even low doses of pesticide exposure can disrupt the hormonal system. The endocrine disrupting properties of pesticides can affect cellular functions and lead to disruptions in hormonal signals, which can lead to many health problems such as obesity, infertility, immune system diseases and neurobehavioral disorders. The harms of pesticides are not limited to the individual effects of the active ingredients. Studies show that the “cocktail effect” created by the combination of multiple types of pesticides can be much more dangerous than the effects of individual substances. However, current regulations treat pesticides individually and do not take these interactions into account, thus preventing accurate assessment of overall risk.

According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, additional testing should be done on pesticides to:

• Investigation of chemical mixtures and cocktail effects,
• Testing not only active ingredients but all formulated products,
• Evaluation of toxic effects of pesticide metabolites,
• Effects on unborn babies, newborns and children,
• Testing for substances that harm the endocrine system,
• Detection of chemicals that disrupt metabolism,
• Investigation of intergenerational effects on all organs and physiological systems,
• Conducting developmental neurotoxicity tests.

Toxic-free tables are possible!

Getting rid of pesticides used in agriculture requires a comprehensive transformation from production to consumption. The responsibility cannot be placed solely on farmers or consumers! Governments, local governments, companies, producers and civil society organizations need to act together to change agricultural policies, gradually ban pesticides and transition to agroecological production models that are compatible with nature. Duygu Saatli, an agricultural engineer from the Buğday Ecological Life Support Association and a founding member of the Non-Toxic Tables Platform, emphasizes the urgent need to switch to ecological and restorative agricultural methods instead of conventional agricultural practices and states the following:

“The primary duty of organizations such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the World Health Organization should be to take measures to protect people and the ecosystem from the very beginning, instead of putting pesticides on the market without sufficient research on their harms.”

Don't wait for agricultural poisons to come to your kitchen to get rid of them:

• Choose organic products grown using nature-friendly, agroecological methods.
• Support small farmers who produce healthy produce by joining food communities and consumer cooperatives.
• Demand changes to agricultural policies to ban pesticides and encourage environmentally friendly production.
• Support civil society organizations working on food security and sustainable agriculture.

You can contribute to the ban on pesticides and the construction of a poison-free future by signing the campaign launched by the Non-Toxic Tables Platform for the right to healthy food.

Source: HORECA TREND and BSHA