Emergency Authorisations of Toxic Chemicals Continue to Jeopardise Environmental and Human Health in the EU: New Study
Updated: Jul 20
Environmental and human health in the European Union continue to face the risks of unauthorised chemicals in agricultural use. Through the application of emergency authorisations, numerous Member States persist in allowing the (re)introduction of dangerous substances that have been proven beyond reasonable doubt to present unacceptable risks for human and environmental health.
The ongoing use and abuse of emergency authorisations, some of which breach the EU regulations that dictate their procedure, hampers established sustainability goals under the EU Green Deal. Exploited loopholes in the emergency authorisation procedures and insufficient enforcement create persistent challenges for sustainability and public health.
Today, a significant new study has been published (Carisio, Simon Delso, Tosi, Beyond the urgency: pesticide Emergency Authorisations' exposure, toxicity, and risk for humans, bees, and the environment, 2024, Science of the Total Environment, Vol 947) [1], shedding light on the risks associated with exploiting emergency authorisation loopholes.
This study provides a comprehensive overview of the regulatory framework for chemicals used in agricultural protection and evaluates the frequency, use, and compliance with regulation of Member States granting emergency authorisations. By focusing on past research using honeybees as biomonitors to assess the toxicity of chemicals, the study has underscored the profound impact of emergency authorisations on human and environmental health.
Some Member States breach the law by granting emergency authorisations, and the 'emergency' qualifier slowly fades.
The study's results are alarming. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of emergency authorisations granted by Member States for plant protection products (AKA pesticides) the commercial products for application in crops, skyrocketed to 3173. This is a significant increase from the previous period, which saw 220 authorisations between 2013 and 2016. At the same time, the yearly EU average for emergency authorisations for active substances, the key chemical components in pesticides, was 223.
Some of these authorisations downright breached legal limits. Twelve percent of emergency authorisations for pesticides exceeded the 120-day use-period limit. In Spain, for instance, a highly toxic substance (fludioxonil, which has been associated with liver cell damage in humans) was granted a forty-month authorisation. Additionally, various Member States constantly renewed emergency authorisations, diluting the meaning of the keyword 'emergency'.
Emergency Authorisations are reintroducing the most toxic and harmful chemicals to our environment.
On another highly alarming note, active substances reintroduced into the environment thanks to emergency authorisations are highly toxic and produce particularly harmful effects. In comparison to approved substances, those that find their way back into our fields through emergency authorisations have heightened toxic values.
According to the review of biomonitoring research, which uses bees as a proxy for environmental contamination, the median lethal doses of active substances in emergency authorisations is less than half. In other words, less than half of the dose is required to become deadly for a bee when compared to the median authorised active substance, indicating the high toxicity of the substances in emergency authorisations. These authorisations are thus spreading in the environment and food chain highly toxic chemicals, which are the most contaminant when compared to approved active substances.
Unfortunately, this situation is not restricted to a few portions of the European territory. The six Member States that granted the most emergency authorisations for active substances also represent half of the agricultural land in the European Union (Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain). The vast use of emergency authorisations across the European Union can only cause further concern for its extensive environmental impact, including pollinators and the human population.
Shedding light on a persistent problem
The loopholes in the emergency authorisation procedures, the lack of accountability and insufficient enforceability are not new. Whereas this new study clarifies some of the regulatory mechanisms and describes the elevated risks for environmental and human health associated with emergency authorisations for chemicals in agricultural use, various environmental organisations have constantly sounded the alarm against the abuse of these authorisations by Member States. In 2017, a report by environmental and beekeeping organisations PAN Europe, ROMAPIS, Client Earth, and BeeLife drew attention to the ongoing abuse of emergency authorisations of insecticides and their high impact on bees and beekeeping activity [2]. Other subsequent communications also stressed the legal and environmental challenges surrounding emergency authorisations [3] [4] [5].
The way forward
Considering the challenges of increased demand for agricultural products and the need for improved food security, sustainable strategies are required. As the study highlights, alternatives such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches, alternative (authorised) Active Substances, and agroecology practices point towards pathways to increase agricultural productivity, sustainability and resilience. Promoting these practices must go hand-in-hand with increased clarity and accountability in the emergency authorisation mechanism. We see that achieving greater sustainability in agriculture must follow both the promotion of beneficial practices with the deterrence of abuses and loopholes such as those exposed and exploited in emergency authorisations.
Key takeaways:
Emergency authorisations are numerous, and a percentage infringes on legal time limits, justificatory filing procedures, and the obligation to create a route map for research and application of alternatives.
Chemicals reintroduced into the environment by emergency authorisations are highly toxic, introducing more significant risks to environmental and human health than authorised substances.
The abuse of emergency authorisations is a recurrent phenomenon observed and denounced for almost a decade.
About BeeLife
BeeLife European Beekeeping Coordination is an umbrella non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of bees and pollinators in the European Union. Through research, advocacy, and collaboration, BeeLife works to promote a sustainable environment where pollinators can thrive, ensuring biodiversity and food security in Europe.
Contacts:
References
[1] Carisio, Simon Delso, Tosi, 2024, Beyond the urgency: pesticide Emergency Authorisations' exposure, toxicity, and risk for humans, bees, and the environment, Science of the Total Environment, Vol 947, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724043651
[2] PAN Europe, ROMAPIS, Client Earth, and BeeLife, 2017, Bee Emergency Call, https://www.bee-life.eu/post/2017/03/20/bee-emergency-call
[3] Romapis, BeeLife, 2018, Bee-killing Insecticides Continue to be set Free in Romania, https://www.apiservices.biz/documents/articles-en/bee_killing_insecticides_continue_romania.pdf
[4] BeeLife, 2018, Open Letter to the Commissioner - Emergency Authorisations of Neonicotinoids and EFSA's Evaluation, https://www.bee-life.eu/post/2018/07/18/open-letter-to-the-commissioner-emergency-authorisations-of-neonicotinoids-and-efsas-ev
[5] BeeLife, 2021, Romania is considering granting an emergency authorisation on the use of neonicotinoids - again, https://www.bee-life.eu/post/romania-is-considering-requesting-a-derogation-on-the-use-of-neonicotinoids-again
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