According to a new analysis by Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK), food brought into Great Britain contains a far higher concentration of pesticides linked to cancer than domestically grown produce.
Pesticides: increasing in our imported food
Recent UK government testing revealed 46 cancer-associated pesticides on imported food, compared to just 19 found on homegrown items, raising serious concerns about the safety of the food on our plates.
Imported foods had two to three times more “developmental or reproductive toxins” (which can affect sexual health and fertility) and neurotoxins (which harm the nervous system) compared to UK-grown food. Imported foods also had more than twice the number of endocrine disrupting chemicals (29 compared to 12), which can mess with hormone systems and cause health issues like cancer and birth defects.
Recent findings revealed that while five PFAS “forever chemicals” were detected in UK-grown food, the number spiked to 12 in imported products. These chemicals, known for their persistence in the environment and the human body, are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they accumulate in blood, bones, and tissue, remaining for years.
PFAS exposure has been linked to numerous serious health risks, including a heightened risk of cancers and a weakened immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off infections. This troubling increase in their presence in food highlights the urgent need for more stringent controls on food imports and pesticide use.
The Dirty Dozen
Nick Mole, PAN UK’s policy officer, said:
While the results for UK produce are also concerning, when it comes to pesticides that pose a risk to consumer health, imports tend to be far worse than food grown here in the UK. The imported food tested by the government contained almost three times the number of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), including carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and neurotoxins.
With rates of diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s on the rise, we should be doing everything we can to reduce our chemical exposure. But the UK government is allowing larger amounts of chemicals to appear in an ever-growing list of common food items. They urgently need to reverse this current trend.
PAN UK’s annual “Dirty Dozen” report, which reveals the fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated with multiple pesticides, has just been released. This year’s top contender is soft citrus fruits like satsumas, tangerines, and clementines. Alarmingly, some of these food items contain residues from up to 12 different pesticides.
Yet, government safety regulations still only account for the risks of individual chemicals, ignoring the fact that pesticide mixtures, the “cocktail effect”, can be far more dangerous than a single chemical.
Ignoring a major risk factor
The UK government tested 917 samples of domestically grown, non-animal origin food, with 286 (31%) found to contain multiple residues. Additionally, 1,046 samples of imported non-animal origin food were tested, and 577 (55%) contained multiple residues.
Imported produce was three times more likely to exceed the UK’s legal pesticide limits. Indian beans were the most problematic, with 10 of 25 samples testing positive for illegal residue levels. As the UK negotiates a trade deal with India, food imports from there are expected to rise.
Mole noted:
We’ve long been concerned that new trade deals signed by the UK since EU exit pose a major risk to the health of British consumers. This is especially true when it comes to countries like India that struggle with high pesticide residues in their food exports.
There are major questions over whether British border controls are robust enough to detect food imports contaminated with pesticides and prevent them from reaching our plates. And yet, when we’ve pointed out these risks to the UK government, they refuse to take them seriously. Given that today’s findings are based on imports that have already made it past our borders, we strongly urge the government to take action to protect British consumers.
Pesticides: post-Brexit laws don’t go far enough
The presence of 48 pesticides banned in the UK on imported food gives foreign growers an unfair advantage, as they can use cheaper, dangerous chemicals that British farmers are forbidden to use. These pesticides, including cancer-linked carbaryl and diazinon, pose significant health and environmental risks.
Even more concerning, the bee-killing pesticide imidacloprid, banned in the UK since 2018, was found on imported potatoes, peas, and grapes, further threatening both human health and biodiversity.
Mole issued a powerful warning about the grave consequences of permitting banned toxic pesticides in UK food imports:
By allowing banned pesticides in our imports, the UK is exporting its environmental and human health footprint abroad. Farmworkers and wildlife in countries where our food is grown are exposed to these dangerous chemicals and will suffer the associated harms. It also undermines British farmers at a time when we are asking them to produce more sustainably.
But any drop in British pesticide standards will be a major problem for trade with the EU, which could also devastate UK farming. If the government is serious about protecting British consumers and supporting our farmers, it can kill two birds with one stone by not allowing food imports grown using pesticides banned for use domestically to enter Great Britain.
Featured image via the Canary
