Greenpeace Germany has recently published a new version of its catalogue named “The EU Pesticide Blacklist”, which compiles all the approved pesticides in the European Union, according to potential risks which they could pose to human health and to the environment. On the other hand, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) disagrees.

The report analyzes a total of 520 active substances allowed by the European Union and evaluates their potential risks. Of these, 209 pesticides are considered to be dangerous by Greenpeace in its Blacklist, because of the toxic effect they have.

“The most dangerous pesticides for humans and the environment should disappear from the fields and from food. The blacklist must first of all serve as a guide meant to reduce and finally replace chemical and synthetic pesticides with ecologic and non-toxic alternatives,” says Christiane Huxdorff, coordinator of the campaign for ecological agriculture with Greenpeace Germany.

According to Greenpeace, 111 pesticides should be immediately banned in order to protect human health, among which glyphosate, which was categorized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a potential carcinogenic substance in humans.

However, the EFSA released a report which concludes that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans and proposed a new safety measure that will tighten the control of glyphosate residues in food. Jose Tarazona, head of EFSA’s Pesticides Unit, said: “Regarding carcinogenicity, it is unlikely that this substance is carcinogenic.”

You can read more information on this topic in the next issue of Potato Processing International.