The French food safety authority ANSES published a report on 21 December denouncing the lack of scientific basis for the Commission's deregulation proposal for new GMOs (NGTs). A webinar will be held on Wed 17 Jan at 5 pm Brussels time (CET) with a representative of ANSES and Prof Michael Antoniou — organised by MEP Christophe Clergeau. Register for online participation here.  GMWatch alert on webinar organised by MEP Christophe Clergeau

 

 

Générations futures has published a new report based on air analyses showing that in agricultural areas, distances of several tens of meters do not protect against aerial exposure to pesticides. The association calls for non-treatment zones (ZNT) for chemical pesticides of at least 150 meters. The new report comes after the group's first air analysis campaigns, carried out in 2021 and 2022 in major crop areas, as well as in 2023 in wine-growing areas. These campaigns revealed significant exposure of populations to pesticides via air, calling into question the effectiveness of non-treatment zones of 5 to 10 meters. In 2023, a new sampling and analysis campaign was launched to improve the protocol previously implemented. The new report reveals that even tens of meters away from the boundary with treated agricultural areas, pesticide concentrations in the air are not significantly reduced. The current non-treatment zones of 5 to 10 meters are therefore insufficient to protect populations. The analyses show that residents of areas treated with pesticides are exposed to cocktails of numerous pesticides – up to 35 different substances in 7 weeks. Glyphosate, classified as a probable carcinogen, is particularly present in the North of France. Many dangerous pesticides according to the EU classification were detected, highlighting the need to withdraw from the market products containing CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or Reprotoxic) or endocrine disrupting substances. Likewise, air pollution from agricultural pesticides used can still lead to high concentrations in small towns located in rural areas, as analyses show in the North of France. Générations futures (French language text)

 

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