European Parliament rejects proposed pesticide rules on endocrine disruptors

The European Parliament has voted down a proposal from the European Commission to regulate those pesticides that may interfere with human hormones. 
 

The European Commission will have to draft a new text, which is already four years overdue, as opinions diverge across the EU on the potential restrictions to impose on those chemicals.
 

The Commission had proposed a set of scientific criteria to determine which chemicals should be classified as endocrine disruptors, leading to their use being restricted or banned. The proposal excluded those pesticides specifically designed to act on the hormones of parasites.
 

An objection arguing that proposing this exemption exceeds the Commission’s remits won on a majority of 389 votes to 235 (with 70 abstentions) in a plenary vote last Wednesday, the European Parliament announced in a statement.
 

“There is evidence of adverse reproductive effects [infertility, cancers, malformations] which could also affect thyroid function, brain function, obesity, metabolism, insulin and glucose homeostasis,” the statement added about endocrine disruptors, quoting a World Health Organisation report.
 

Depending on the criteria eventually applied, the European Crop Protection Association of pesticide manufacturers has drawn up a list of up to 78 active ingredients that could potentially be restricted.