Food Standards Agency
Saturday 4 July 2009
Safer food better business banner
AZ-Directory
What's NewRSS
What is RSS?Listen
Listen to this siteMonday 14 March 2005
This timeline lists the main events relating to mixtures of pesticides.
The Agency's action plan puts into place a programme that investigates the assessment of any possible risk from the combined effect of the different pesticides in food, implementing the recommendations of the COT. The plan includes carrying out more toxicological research into any possible combination effect and changes to the system for approving pesticides.
Back to topThe Agency produced the draft action plan on the risk assessment of mixtures of pesticides to take forward recommendations in the COT report, working with the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department of Health (DH) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The draft action plan sets out the COT report's recommendations and a proposed two-stage course of action.
In stage one, the Agency will carry out COT's recommendations and work towards:
In stage two, the Agency will use the scientific evidence gathered in stage one to argue for changes to EC legislation and international standards, to take account of possible combination effects. The UK is bound by EC regulatory frameworks for agricultural pesticides, biocides and veterinary medicines, which means that it can't unilaterally change the authorisation process of these substances.
Back to topFollowing a 20-month assessment by WiGRAMP and the draft report produced in February 2002, the final COT report on the Risk Assessment of Mixtures of Pesticides and Similar Substances was published in October 2002.
The Committee concluded that the risk to people's health from mixtures of residues is likely to be small. It said that children and pregnant or breastfeeding women are unlikely to be more affected by the 'cocktail effect' than most other people. But the report also said that there is only limited evidence in this area and it might not be easy to predict how some chemicals would interact.
The report recommended:
The Food Standards Agency asked WiGRAMP to conduct an assessment of existing scientific information and data, and consider any implications for the risk assessment of pesticides and veterinary medicines used in agriculture. The following issues are covered in the draft report:
The Working Group for the Risk Assessment of Mixtures of Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines (WiGRAMP) was established by the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) in December 2000. The Food Standards Agency asked COT to establish the Working Group because of public concern about mixtures of pesticides.
The Working Group, which was chaired by Professor Frank Woods, included members from scientific, consumer, pesticide-surveillance and veterinary backgrounds. The Group's main aims were to:
This report highlighted the existence of multiple residues in some commonly consumed foods. Although the report didn't raise concerns about a health risk from mixtures of pesticides, Agency research suggested that members of the public were concerned about a possible 'cocktail effect', particularly in relation to children.
Back to topFind out what our other sites have to offer