Two health and environment groups have come together to launch a campaign to prevent cancers that are associated with exposure to pesticides. It will be known as the Pesticides and Cancer Campaign. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) based in Brussels and the Mouvement pour le Droit et le Respect des Générations Futures in Paris believe that stricter regulation on the use of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides could have a significant impact on health in Europe.

“At least, one in every hundred cancers diagnosed each year in Europe may be directly associated with exposure to pesticides. The percentage would be much higher for certain cancers, such breast, prostate, testicular, leukaemia and lymphomas,” says Monica Guarinoni, Deputy Director of HEAL. “Taking the steps necessary to prevent these cancers will mean thousands of people avoid the anguish of being told they have cancer.”

The estimate that one per cent of cancers is linked to pesticide exposure is taken from a recent report commissioned by the European Parliament.(3) Drawing on analysis in the US, the report says that as many as 30,000 of the 3 million cancers diagnosed in European Union countries each year are associated with hazardous chemicals contained in certain pesticides.

The Pesticides and Cancer Campaign will start in France, the biggest user of pesticides in the EU. France is also a country in which public concerns over exposure to synthetic chemicals used in agriculture is high. On the basis of a recent poll undertaken by MDRGF, as many as 95% of French people would like to see the use of pesticides reduced by 50%.

French authorities have already started to address the issue. For example, the national institute for medical research (INSERM) has recently recognised pesticides as a causative environmental factor for certain cancers. “This decision was based on a number of recent studies, which confirm the need for precaution in the use of pesticides, especially to protect the most vulnerable populations in our societies,” says Aurèle Clémencin, project coordinator and responsible for the campaign in France.

“What we hope to achieve is greater public awareness and mobilisation around the links between pesticides and cancer. We would also like to see national cancer prevention plans addressing environmental factors, such as reducing pesticides, to help ‘stop cancers before they start’. The campaign is particularly concerned to ensure a high level of protection for children, pregnant women and those who work in agriculture.'

The campaign has the support of a French national public health organisation. Dr Jean-Michel Calut of the Coordination Nationale Medicale Sante Environnement (CNMSE), representing 3,500 health professionals in France, says: “There is no sustainable health without sustainable development. We need to go beyond even a “precautionary approach” and act swiftly on the basis of a broad respect for human life. Substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR) as well as hormone-disrupting should be banned, and medical concerns both with regard to the impact of CMR substances and endocrine disruptors should be be taken seriously.”

The CNMSE is just one of several organisations and groups that have already joined the campaign. Another is Association Sante Environnement France (ASEF), which is already active on health and pesticides issues. HEAL and MDRGF aim to provide interested groups and individuals with the scientific materials and knowledge that will allow them to advocate constructively to policy makers at European, national and local level, particularly at key moments in the legislative process on pesticides and cancer.