Beleid en debat

Une nouvelle étude scientifique alerte sur la présence de pesticides dans l'eau des rivières et des lacs, bien au-delà des seuils admissibles. L'association de défense de l'environnement "Générations Futures" demande le changement de la réglementation sur les produits phyto-sanitaires. Publiée le mois dernier, cette étude allemande a "recoupé" 160 analyses, faites dans les 28 pays européens, entre 1972 et 2012. Du jamais vu. Elle alerte sur la présence de nombreux pesticides dans nos rivières et dans nos lacs, bien au-dessus des seuils admissibles. Les seuils limites dépassés dans près de 38% des cas. Les deux auteurs, deux scientifiques de l'université de Koblenz Landau en Allemagne voulaient vérifier si les limites acceptables de pesticides dans le milieu aquatique étaient bien respectées et la réponse est clairement non. Sur 23 pesticides recherchés, les concentrations dans l'eau dépassaient les seuils limites dans près de 38 % des cas.

On an independent modern farm followed by certified veterinarians, dairy cows (mean of 62 per year) were maintained in optimized milk production for 3 years each. From 1997 to 2002, just after the commercial release of the first GMO (genetically modified organism) in Europe, genetically modified (GM) Bt176 maize grown on the farm was progressively introduced in controlled diets. The results are described in the following account, which has an historical value as it is the longest and first on-farm observation of mammals, performed by an experienced farmer and veterinarians, during a period of unusual pathological problems in cows receiving a GMO-rich diet. Thus it was not designed as a scientific experiment. Over the years, and coinciding with regular increases in GMO content of the diet (0–40%), the proportion of healthy cows with high milk yield diminished from 70% (normal rate) to only 40%. At the peak of mortalities in 2002, 10% of the cows died, preceded by a long-lasting paresis syndrome without hypocalcemia or fever, but with kidney biochemical failure and mucosa or epithelial problems. No microbial origin was identified, though intensively investigated. The GM maize, subsequently withdrawn from the market, was at the time the only intended managerial change for the cows. It is proposed that it provoked long-term toxic effects on mammals, which are not observable in most common conditions of intensive farming with high and rapid animal turnover and with no specific labels on GM feed (identifying amount and precise identity of GMO content). More long-term assessments during GMO feeding trials should be performed.

On December 28, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized important changes to the “minimum risk” pesticide exemption under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). See EPA, “Pesticides; Revisions to Minimum Risk Exemption,” 80 Fed. Reg. 80653 (Dec. 28, 2015). EPA’s new rule goes into effect February 26, 2016, with the exception of the deadline for compliance with new labeling requirements for minimum risk products, which is February 26, 2019. EPA’s action follows changes proposed in December 2012 and marks the first set of revisions to EPA’s minimum risk pesticide regulations since the Agency originally promulgated them in 1996. As briefly summarized below, the changes include more detailed EPA listings of the active and inert ingredients that may be used in minimum risk pesticides. Although EPA has not added or subtracted any ingredients from its lists of eligible minimum risk product ingredients, in its survey of personal insect repellent products currently distributed as minimum risk pesticides, it found that nearly half contain ingredients not permitted by its regulations. Based on this analysis, EPA suggests that the more detailed listings included in its newly codified provisions may require manufacturers who currently distribute pesticides under the minimum risk exemption to reformulate their products to achieve compliance.

DW looks at why people are taking to the streets in Germany to demand an "Agrarwende" - or agricultural transformation. Issues include health concerns, protection of animals, and pollution impacts on water and climate. Under the motto "we're sick of it!", people in Berlin will hit the streets by the thousands on Saturday (01.16.2016) to protest for a transformation in agricultural systems. A broad coalition of more than 50 environmental, consumer, animal and farming groups have called for the demonstration, which coincides with the opening of Green Week in Berlin - the largest agricultural trade fair in the world.

"Unsere Beobachtungen sind hochgradig beängstigend", sagt Josef Tumbrinck vom Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu). Er warnt vor einem neuartigen Insektensterben mit unbekannten Folgen für Deutschland. Nach einer aktuellen Untersuchung ging im Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen in den vergangenen 15 Jahren die Masse an Insekten um 80 Prozent zurück. Eine ähnliche Entwicklung wird auch in anderen Regionen befürchtet. "Wenn uns die Fluginsekten fehlen, gerät die gesamte Nahrungskette in Gefahr: Blumen und Bäume werden nicht mehr bestäubt, und den Vögeln fehlt die Nahrungsgrundlage", sagt Tumbrinck, Vorsitzender vom Nabu in NRW. Der Umweltverband hatte zusammen mit Insektenkundlern zwischen 1989 und 2014 an 88 Standorten Insekten gesammelt, ihre Arten bestimmt und sie gewogen. "Während wir 1995 noch 1,6 Kilogramm aus den Untersuchungsfallen sammelten, sind wir heute froh, wenn es 300 Gramm sind", sagt Tumbrinck. Der Rückgang von bis zu 80 Prozent betreffe unter anderem Schmetterlinge, Bienen und Schwebfliegen. Besonders Neonicotinoide stehen im Verdacht, für das massenhafte Sterben von Insekten verantwortlich zu sein. Die hochwirksamen Insekten-Nervengifte werden seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre in der Landwirtschaft eingesetzt.