Neonicotinoids threaten health

The DUPLOM law aims to reautorize under conditions the use of neonicotinoids on agricultural land. What is it?

The chemical industry manufactures these insecticide substances and markets them in the form of phytosanitary products, for agricultural use. In the vast family of pesticides, there are fungicides that eliminate harmful fungi, herbicides that fight against weeds …

Neonicotinoids destroy the organism of pest insects by acting on their nervous system. The DUPLOM law therefore aims to reautorize this list of substances such as acetamipride again. This one kills the aphids and the bedbugs which transmit viruses in the crops of sugar beet or hazelnuts.

The petition against the text now exceeds two million signatories. Do we have proof that neonicotinoids are harmful to human health?

These substances are dangerous for our health, there is no doubt about it. My association, the National League to Combat Cancer, also militates in favor of a repeal of the law for scientific reasons. Neonicotinoids block the functioning of certain neurons of the nervous system. However, animals have this system, from insect to humans.

The chemical industries that manufacture these insecticides recommend doses of use affecting only target insects and they are supposed to be safe for fauna and humans. But science tells us the opposite. These pesticides are endocrine disruptors, chemicals likely to unbalance our organism.

For example, when a farmer spreads a phytosanitary product in his fields, the liquid fragments in droplets that diffuse in our environment. The molecule can travel very far and contaminate our air, our soil, our diet. And many university studies show the danger of exposure to neonicotinoids. Acetamipride could alter the development of the nervous system of the fetus and promote disorders such as autism. It can also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease.

Do pesticides increase the risk of cancer?

Yes, in 2013, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) published a collective expertise summarizing scientific knowledge on the health effects of pesticides. We know that the number of people with cancer has doubled in thirty years, and that patients are increasingly young. Inserm has identified an increase in prostate cancer, testicle, but also leukemia in children when it is a rare disease.

Obviously, it is difficult to isolate a particular molecule as responsible, but there is a “cocktail effect”. The more we are exposed to different potentially carcinogenic substances such as pesticides, the more the incidence of cancer increases. In addition, several laboratories directly question acetamipride. In 2022, Japanese and Chinese researchers published a study after having exposed mice to this chemical substance. They noted in these animals a significant increase in breast tumors, which causes breast cancer.

However, the European Union believes that these insecticides are not dangerous for human health.

Certainly, but the conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are biased. This European Union agency assesses the risks of chemicals for health before allowing any placing on the market. Manufacturers must carry out a test battery to comply with European directives. But they use private research centers to carry out these regulatory studies whose protocols are, moreover, often old. EFSA therefore does not take sufficient account of the many recent university studies, from modern biology technologies.

Finally, lobbies of the phytopharmaceutical industry sometimes weigh in decisions. For these firms, there is a lot of money at stake. However, ANSES (1) – the organization responsible for assessing pesticides in France – recalls that alternatives exist. With INRAE (2), it coordinated an expertise showing that it is possible to reduce the exposure of the population to these harmful substances. Recall that cancer has a cost in terms of public health. He is treated, but at what cost for society and the individual who has it?