By Dr. Tadesse Amera, Co-Chair, IPEN and Director, Pesticide Action Nexus (PAN)-Ethiopia delivered at the Global Forum 2020 Food Safety and Risk Assessment session.

1. GLOBAL FORUM2020
3 R D S A V I N G L I V E S S U S T A I N A B L Y:
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION IN THE HEALTH
SECTOR GLOBAL FORUM|2020 RIYADH
Pesticides used for food
production as a health and
safety issue
Tadesse Amera(PhD)
On behalf of HCWH& IPEN

2. INTRODUCTION
Pesticides are used in agriculture to protect crops from insects, fungi, weeds
and other pests
Pesticides can affect people during their application and when consumed
(residue)
The routes of exposure are ingestion, inhalation and direct contact
Their impacts can be acute (immediate) or chronic (long term exposure)

3. Impacts of pesticides on crop
production
 Pesticides are intended to control pests and increase production
 However
 They affect non-target organisms: bees & pollinators can be
eliminated
 They persist in the environment-POPs, organochlorines –also called
lipidophilic
 They can cause resistance resulting in pest resurgence

4. Accumulation of pesticides in food
systems
 Bioaccumulation
 Build up in the body through time
 Biomagnification
 Occurs due to a food chain
 water-phytoplankton-zooplankton-small fish-fish eating
birds
 DDT, 0.000003-20 ppm

5. Impacts of pesticides on human
health
All pesticides are potentially harmful to human health
Local acute effects of pesticides can affect the body part in contact
Acute systemic exposure can cause immediate death-based on type &
amount
In chronic systemic exposure, the blood carries pesticides to all part of the
body

6. Chronic impacts of pesticides on
humans
Some pesticides have been found to disrupt the body’s immune system
Some studies show that mother’s exposure to pesticides in the first months
of pregnancy can cause miscarriage
Some studies indicated that the mother’s exposure to pesticides during
pregnancy can be related to the occurrence of stillbirths.
Some pesticides are known to cause sterility and infertility in men.
Babies can also be exposed to pesticides when they are breast fed
Pesticides can cause birth defects
Some pesticide are carcinogenic-causing cancer

7. Pesticides & food safety issues
FAO and WHO have a voluntary code of conduct on pesticide management-
JMPM
WHO &FAO establish limits for safe intake of food-JMPR
to ensure that the amount of pesticide residue people are exposed to
through eating food over their lifetime will not result in adverse health
effects
These acceptable daily intakes are used by governments and international
risk managers, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission
 to establish Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides in food
so that consumers can be confident that the food they buy meets the
agreed standards for safety and quality

8. Is it possible to reduce/eliminate
pesticides? YES
The fourth meeting of the International Conference on Chemicals
Management (ICCM4) made a resolution on the importance of agroecology
in crop production
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) promotes the use of pesticides as a last
resort
Organic agriculture have been witnessed as chemicals free and very safe
should not be limited to export

9. Three Important points to take note
of
1. Pesticides are created to kill
2. Pesticides have negative impacts on food
production, the environment & human health
3. Pesticide use can be reduced/eliminated

10. Take-home messages
1. Food safety in relation to pesticides is a public
health priority
2. Let us encourage eating what we produce and
producing what we eat
 We usually eat what we do not produce and we
produce what we do not eat

11. GLOBAL FORUM2020
THANK YOU