Ask the UK Government to protect us from pesticide cocktails

Mixtures of pesticides commonly found in UK food, water and soil may be harming the health of both humans and wildlife.

Around a quarter of all food, and over a third of fruit and vegetables, consumed in the UK contain pesticide cocktails, with some items containing traces of up to 14 different pesticides. Pesticide cocktails of up to ten different chemicals are also found in UK soil and water with the potential to affect wildlife such as birds and bees.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that pesticides can interact to become more toxic creating a ‘cocktail effect’. Despite this, we continue to test the safety of pesticides as individual chemicals.

Add your voice to call for the UK Government to protect us from pesticide cocktails

(This issue is urgent so we would normally ensure your email was delivered immediately. However, the Government is a bit preoccupied right now and we wouldn’t want them to miss your important message so will hold it back until their attention has returned. We promise to deliver it as soon as possible).

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Dear Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
I am writing to request that Defra takes urgent action to reduce both pesticide use and pesticide-related harms in the UK.
In particular, I am extremely concerned that the natural environment and my family, friends and I are exposed to cocktails of pesticides in food, water and soil. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that mixtures of pesticides can be harmful to human health and wildlife (including insects, fish and birds) even when each individual chemical appears at levels at or below its “no-observed-effect-concentration”.
Testing by the Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF) reveals that roughly a quarter of all food, and more than a third of fruit and vegetables, contains pesticide cocktails, with some produce revealing traces of up to 14 different active ingredients. Meanwhile, UK flowers, soil and water can contain 10 or more different pesticides in a single sample. Despite this, Maximum Residue Levels are set for just one pesticide at a time and the system fails to assess or limit the sum total of pesticides to which the environment and wildlife are exposed.  
It is unlikely that any system will be sufficiently sophisticated to accurately assess the full spectrum of health and environmental impacts of millions of different pesticide combinations which appear in varying concentrations in our food and landscape. The only way to minimise the risk, therefore, is to reduce overall pesticide use, a commitment that the Government has already made in the 25 Year Environment Plan.
In particular, I urge Defra to:
<ul>
<li>Introduce measures to support UK farmers to transition to whole farm agroecological systems that include genuine and holistic Integrated Pest Management (IPM), of which organic and agroforestry are well defined examples.</li>
<li>Ensure that no weakening of UK pesticide regulations or standards occurs as a result of Brexit, including through trade negotiations with non-EU countries, and that in turn food imports meet these same UK standards.</li>
<li>Establish robust environmental and human health monitoring systems for pesticide use which moves beyond the focus on individual pesticides and is able to assess combined toxic load.</li>
<li>Introduce a clear, quantitative target for significantly reducing the overall use of pesticides in agriculture.</li>
</ul>
These actions would be hugely popular. Like me, 78% of the UK public want the Government to provide more support to British farmers working hard to reduce their pesticide use.
Please do respond to my message with an update on recent actions taken by Defra to reduce pesticide-related harms. I very much look forward to hearing from you.

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