New analysis by the UK Trade Policy Observatory is warning that what should have been the technical formality of transferring EU powers into national law when the UK leaves the European Union, could instead open the gates for the widespread use of outlawed carcinogenic pesticides that have been shown to alter human reproductive, neurological, and immune systems.
The analysis, carried out by researchers at the University of Sussex and a Masters student at the Centre for Alternative Technology alongside Pesticide Action Network, has uncovered a significant weakening of enforcement arrangements covering the approval of pesticides as part of legislative changes carried out under the EU Withdrawal Act.
They include the removal of a blanket ban on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), potentially allowing for their use on UK land despite considerable evidence the chemicals, which effect how the body responds to sex hormones such as oestrogen, raise the risk of some cancers, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.
Read more at University of Sussex
Pic courtesy of Chris Senior at the Centre for Alternative Technology.