World Day Against the Indiscriminate Use of Agrochemicals

The use of agrochemicals is very common in conventional agricultural systems: herbicides are applied to combat undesirable weeds, insecticides to reduce pests and fungicides to eliminate fungi and diseases; fertilisers are also applied to supplement the nutritional requirements of crops and thus obtain better yields. But what are the impacts of this production model and what are the health and environmental consequences of the current use of agrochemicals? 

Recently, on 27 October 2023, the Science Summit of the United Nations General Assembly took place in New York, USA, where the United Nations General Assembly held its annual Science Summit in New York, USA. the first results of the European SPRINT project were published. (acronym for Sustainable Plant Protection Transition: A Global Health Approach 2020/2025). 

The SPRINT project aims to studying the presence of agrochemicals in ecosystems and in humans. Also, to identify potential hazards from the use of mixtures or combinations between the pesticides found. 

The sampling was carried out during the year 2021 in 10 European countries and in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is the main exporter of soya for animal feed to the European market. The study involved consumers, inhabitants of small towns surrounded by agricultural production, agricultural producers who use pesticides and others who work in an agroecological way, as well as monitoring some rural establishments. Samples were taken from the environment, food, grains, humans and animals.

The results are alarming: Agrochemicals are on the everywhere! In bodies, food and the environment, even where they are not used.

In the study of human fluids (blood, urine and faeces), the protagonist of this sad story appears to be the Glyphosategenotoxic and possibly carcinogenic herbicide. Glyphosate was found in the urine of 86.1% of the Argentinians sampled and in 35.2% of the Europeans. It was also found in 70.51 TTP3T of the faeces of the Europeans and in 1001 TTP3T of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.

With regard to the Chlorpyrifos, an insecticide banned in both Europe and Argentina, was detected in 3.71 TTP3T of European and 37.71 TTP3T of Argentinean faeces. 

The case of Argentina is emblematic, as the levels of pesticides found are very high. The total number of Argentinean participants presented between 6 and 13 pesticides in urine, 2 to 10 pesticides in blood and up to 18 pesticides in faecal matter.

In Argentinean environments, the most detected product is glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA, among a group of hazardous chemicals containing between 25 and 120 pesticides. Also the insecticide chlorpyrifos, recently banned in this country but still available on any supermarket shelf. 

According to the study in question, of the total number of samples analysed for Argentina, the following were found:

-In food from 6 to 22 pesticides.

-In household dust, 43 to 86 pesticides.

-In grain crops, 0 to 8 pesticides.

-In animals, 1 to 12 pesticides in urine and up to 16 pesticides in faecal matter. 

-In animal feed, 5 to 25 pesticides.

-In soils, up to 12 pesticides.

-In surface water 10 to 28 pesticides.

These data are truly alarming, since the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals has led to the contamination of food, environments, animals, people and homes. How far can we go? What further evidence do we need to continue to demonstrate the unsustainability of this system of production? 

There are many studies that highlight the serious consequences that this chemical-dependent production model is leaving behind, which is why Asoprovida invites society to become aware of this problem and say enough is enough to the use of agrochemicals. 

Let's support agroecology, sustainable production and let's be more committed when buying our food. Choosing organic or agro-ecological products is a small contribution we can make to the socio-environmental crisis we are going through. Avoiding the use of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides in our homes also helps, learning about cultural practices and home preparations can allow us to control those enemies that come to our orchards and gardens in a more environmentally friendly way. 

Ing. Agr. Andrea Porporato

Please note that, thanks to our partners, we had the opportunity to organise a show of excellence at both the organisational and academic level through top quality lectures and presentations. The wider community attending the congress had the opportunity to enjoy the scientific material presented by several major players in international life care.

It is important to note that thanks to this convention, we had the opportunity to enjoy a rich scientific programme that included keynote lectures, scientific sessions, workshops and other cultural activities. As the quote goes:

"The land is not an inheritance from our fathers, but a loan from our children".
We cannot underestimate the importance of caring for our planet for future generations.