However, their use may pose health risks to the farmers and pesticide workers, often as a consequence of improper or careless handling. The commission recommended that farmers should not spray within five metres of where anyone lived or worked, that the medical establishment take reported illnesses more seriously and that new research be done. Reasonable precautions include using the right spraying techniques and equipment, taking account of weather conditions and the need to protect neighbours’ interests and other members of the public, wildlife and the environment. "Residents [living near fields that are sprayed] are genuinely ill. "We were also made aware of less clearly defined symptoms including confusion, memory loss, impaired cognition, dizziness and shortness of breath," the report said. And she claimed that under current rules local people were not even entitled to a warning about what was being sprayed near their homes and gardens. Evidence from GPs, they said, found "real concerns" that pesticide spraying could be linked to cancer clusters. There are certain labeling requirements for the commercial distribution of products that used agricultural pesticides. We had no protection from repeated exposures to innumerable mixtures of hazardous chemicals, many of which have neurotoxic, carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting capabilities. Pesticides are either restricted or unclassified. The report was welcomed by rural campaigners. There i… Users of pesticides must ensure that all reasonable precautions are taken to prevent spray drift. "He must take steps to produce an adequate assessment of the risks to residents.". ", Georgina Downs describes her anti-pesticides campaign. Miss Downs, whose home near Chichester, West Sussex, borders crop fields, launched her independent UK Pesticides Campaign in 2001. "The need to inform residents of imminent spraying and of the composition of pesticides to be used is, I think clear. Infections can result from direct contact with animals or their products such as manure or placenta. "Science should not be positioned without argument as being beyond doubt. The fact that the commission has agreed that crop spraying is a potential health risk is positive. People living in the countryside are at risk from crop sprays and must be given better protection, the High Court has ruled. Chemical sprays may drift over neighbouring properties or waterways and can affect human health, animals or the environment. The application of pesticides on crops is necessary to prevent unacceptable losses of the agricultural production. We asked the government's Health and Safety Executive and the local environmental health department for help but we were told the farmer wasn't doing anything illegal; indeed we were told there was no legal obligation for farmers to provide any information on any chemical being used. Members of the group, who visited 13 people reporting illnesses in six counties and considered written evidence from more than 1,000 others, said they had identified symptoms after spraying. As a responsible industry, we will comply with any new requirements the regulator introduces. "It has confirmed the uncertainties and possible risks that people have always suspected. The judgment had made "very clear" that the Government had been acting unlawfully, and the health of rural residents and communities was not being protected. The report heavily criticised the way government regulatory committees such as the Advisory Committee on Pesticides had consistently maintained there was little or no risk to the public from crop spraying. In court the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had argued that its approach to the regulation and control of pesticides was "reasonable, logical and lawful in all the circumstances". Miss Downs said the Government had failed to address countryside residents such as herself, "who are repeatedly exposed to mixtures of pesticides and other chemicals throughout every year, and in many cases, like mine, for decades". This is not all in the mind. Crop sprays a risk to health, rules High Court. Spray drift can affect household and farm water supplies, including tank water. The health risks of pesticides, in particular the use of pesticides in agriculture (i.e. Up to 1.5 million people who live near or visit fields sprayed with pesticides need better health protection and more information, says Britain's leading environmental body, which yesterday condemned government regulation as inadequate and flawed. Restricted means it can cause harm to humans or the environment. The Government's current method of assessing risk was based on the model of a "bystander", and assumed there would only be occasional, short-term exposure of an individual to pesticide spray clouds at the time of spraying, Miss Downs said. Small buffer zones will not be able to protect people. "The assurances given to ministers represent too sanguine a view of the robustness of the scientific evidence," the report continued. Despite repeated reassurances about the safety of pesticides found in our food from government experts and scientists, ministers and the Food Standards Agency, people would prefer to eat food without pesticides in it," said Lord Melchett, the policy director of the Soil Association. Zoonoses are caused by bacteria, protozoa, fungi, viruses, parasites or prions, which are often part of an animal's natural flora (i.e., microorganisms that live in and on the animal) but are able to cause disease in humans. But the judge ruled that the result of his judgment was that Mr Benn "must think again and consider what needs to be done". My family and I have lived for 21 years in southern England next to large fields that are regularly sprayed with pesticides. It is plausible that there is an association between pesticides and ill health," said commission member Stephen Holgate. It should be open about the level of risk and uncertainty involved.". Giving his ruling Mr Justice Collins said Miss Downs had been only 11 years old when first exposed to pesticide spraying "and began to suffer from ill-health, in particular flu-like symptoms, sore throat, blistering and other problems". Chemical spray drift cannot always be contained or controlled completely, despite correct application. This is known as ‘spray drift’. The fact that the commission has agreed that crop spraying is a potential health risk is positive. Last month her campaigning against the unrestricted use of pesticides earned her a Woman of the Year award. He said the Government had failed to meet its obligations under EU law to protect rural residents and communities from the possible harmful exposure to pesticides. Peter Sanguinetti, chief executive of the Crop Protection Association, said: "Farmers need pesticides to help them produce a plentiful supply of safe, high quality, affordable food. In his ruling the judge said Miss Downs had produced "strong" evidence to back her case and granted her application for a judicial review. The report, Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders, called for residents to be given notice of spraying and for information about what pesticides are … A Defra spokesperson said:“The protection of human health is paramount. Agriculture ( i.e ] are crop spraying health risk ill may drift over neighbouring properties or waterways and can household... 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