Especially in the run-up to Christmas they are sweet and juicy: tangerine, oranges and Grapefruits in the Winter of the most popular varieties of fruit. But the citrus fruit may carry residues of the pesticide Chlorpyrifos which is not approved in Germany. Now the EU wants to vote-the Commission on an EU-wide ban on the drug.
In the case of vegetables, farmers and citrus farmers, a popular substance used to Kill insects, and is one of the most used insecticides in the world. The “süddeutsche Zeitung”, according to the inspection found your alone in the year 2017, in the case of special controls in Germany in more than every third analysed imported Grapefruit and Orange and four Mandarin orange residues of the toxin.
Eight years ago, scientists in a long time, had come to the conclusion that even small quantities of Chlorpyrifos have a negative impact on the brain development of babies in the womb. Do not leave important areas of the cerebral cortex to shrink, and lead to a noticeable loss in the intellectual achievements of the children, reported US researchers at the time. The maximum values have been set EU-wide shut down.
After revaluation: Chlorpyrifos Standards not met
However, in the summer, the top of the European food safety authority EFSA because of health, language hazards a preliminary recommendation to ban the substance. The authority for the risk assessment of pesticides in the EU.
Chlorpyrifos was first registered in Europe in 2006. Since then, the permit was extended several times. However, after a revaluation, it no longer fulfilled the criteria for admission stated in the EFSA’s Statement in the summer.
On 5. and 6. December will now decide the European Commission on the future of Chlorpyrifos. Searches of the “SZ”, Bavarian radio, Le Monde and the Investigative Reporting Denmark, according to the will of Germany during the vote on the EU Commission to ban the use of the insecticide. In order that this is concluded, would need at least votes of the 15 EU-States – 65 percent – for a Europe-wide ban. The so-called citrus-States of Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal could vote for the research that, however. Where Chlorpyrifos is used, unlike in Germany, generous.
As the research network also found, make the manufacturer in the face of the impending ban, apparently, pressure on the European authorities. The American inventor Corteva applied documents according to the presence of the media, in a letter to all European regulatory authorities. Therein Corteva denies the neurotoxic effect of Chlorpyrifos, that you are not, in principle, with the conclusions of the EFSA and the proposals of the EU Commission to ban the agreement, quoted BR the company.
Other Chlorpyrifos-manufacturer of the EFSA and the Commission had, therefore, an international law firm to announce that the EFSA recommendation damage the reputation of the active substance and the economic interests of the manufacturer in the course. You should remove the Information immediately from the website of the EFSA.
Chlorpyrifos could have a significant damage
How is the “SZ” reported, the damage that the insecticide already done might have cause for concern. The scientists said, therefore, about two years ago, that it let Rattenhirne shrink and the intelligence quotient of children with down sink.
A year ago, it was known, moreover, that the industry had withheld funded study, which was submitted to the authorisation of the plant protection product in front of more than ten years, in the filed version of apparently important information. The Swedish scientist Axel Mie, and the U.S. environmental physicians, Philippe Grandjean obtained at the time insight into the raw data of the study by the manufacturer, Dow AgroSciences. They found serious inconsistencies: “We have found in these raw data strongly suggest that at all doses tested, the structure of the brain is significantly impaired, but nothing can be found in the Report of the study”, said Axel Mie, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
According to the scientists, emerged from the raw data that Chlorpyrifos is damaged in experimental animals, the structure of the brain even at low dose. To this effect, but the manufacturer of study of 1998 does not appear in the conclusion and remained undetected, as the competent Spanish authority approved in the year 2016, the approval. Mies results were included in the safety assessment of the EFSA on Chlorpyrifos with.