Title: Pyrethroids and other pesticides: Clear warning signals on health
Even though their safety is assessed before being placed on the market, plant protection products can have unintended effects on health and the environment. Unique in the European Union, France's Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) plant protection monitoring system makes it possible to monitor these effects under real-life conditions of use and take appropriate action.
Monitoring and taking into account the adverse effects of plant protection products is essential to adjust their uses and marketing authorisations. Through its phytopharmacovigilance system, ANSES analysed the results of a major scientific study: Inserm's collective expertise on the links between pesticide exposure and human health. ANSES identified several health signals, including a strong signals concerning the pyrethroid family, but also in other biocides and veterinary drugs. ANSES reiterates the importance of regularly reviewing the assessments of pesticides in light of new data.
To identify potential health signals, this monitoring system collects a large amount of data on the presence of pesticide residues in the environment, on observed exposures and on the impacts on the health of living beings and ecosystems. In addition to data from measurements carried out in the environment, studies and surveys, scientific publications are also taken into account, with particular attention to epidemiological studies in human health . With this in mind, ANSES analysed the conclusions of the Inserm collective expertise from 2013 updated in 2021 , which takes stock of knowledge on the links between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of pathologies.
The families of "pesticide" products and substances examined by Inserm include plant protection products for agricultural use, as well as biocidal and veterinary products. Under phytopharmacovigilance, ANSES focused its analysis on substances still approved in the European Union for plant protection uses. The many substances identified in Inserm's collective expert appraisal but which should no longer be used in agriculture, such as organochlorines, were therefore not taken into account in this analysis.
Furthermore, ANSES has already used the results of Inserm's collective expertise on several occasions: for its expertise on prostate cancer associated with occupational exposure to pesticides, including chlordecone, which led to the creation of a table of occupational diseases in the agricultural system and to update the toxicological reference values for succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHi) fungicides. Furthermore, during the regulatory review of glyphosate at European level, Inserm had formulated, during the consultation phase organized prior to the conclusion of the assessment, comments resulting from its expert work.
Important signals to consider for pyrethroids
A collective of independent experts was commissioned by ANSES to identify warning signs from the results of Inserm's collective assessment. To do this, the experts cross-referenced several types of data: data on the presumed links between pesticide exposure and human pathologies established by Inserm, data on authorized uses, and data on the toxicities of different pesticides, in particular.
Following this analysis, several signals were identified. The most significant concern organophosphates and especially pyrethroids. The use of these insecticidal substances is indeed still very significant, both for professional agricultural uses and for professional and amateur biocidal uses. The section of the Esteban study on the impregnation of the French population by pesticides (Santé publique France, 2021) also shows significant quantification frequencies for pyrethroids, higher in children than in adults.
The main signal for the pyrethroid family relates to internalized behavioral disorders in children of mothers exposed during pregnancy. Sperm damage has also been identified in the general population (all sources of exposure combined), although with a lower level of presumption. A substance from the pyrethroid family, deltamethrin, is also associated with an increased risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/lymphocytic lymphoma in connection with occupational exposure, with a medium level of presumption.
To further explore the findings of the Inserm report, the phytopharmacovigilance expert group also analyzed the results of a recent epidemiological study (Qi et al., 2022) on pyrethroids. This analysis confirms that exposure to pyrethroids during pregnancy can have adverse effects on the neurodevelopment of very young children.
In order to implement public health prevention measures, ANSES recommends identifying the most significant sources of exposure to pyrethroids among all possible insecticide uses: medicines, plant protection products and biocides, including for treating construction and furnishing materials, and textiles.
Regarding organophosphates, their use is very limited in France today, and malathion-based products are no longer authorized in the country. EFSA has been informed of the health signals identified by phytopharmacovigilance for this substance, while its European approval is currently under review.
Integrate all available scientific data for the evaluation of plant protection products
The signals highlight the importance of regularly updating the risk assessment for each plant protection substance and product. This vigilance is all the more crucial for plant protection substances approved for long periods of time. ANSES points out that European regulations allow for the review of the approval of an active substance when new scientific and technical knowledge calls it into question.
Furthermore, when reviewing products and substances and renewing decisions, the Agency insists on the need to exploit all available and relevant scientific literature, including epidemiological studies and signals and alerts from vigilance systems . The constant evolution of assessment methodologies is also fundamental and ANSES reaffirms its commitment to contributing to this, within the framework of the work harmonised by EFSA.
However, the interpretation of epidemiological data, and more generally of vigilance data, remains severely limited by the difficulties in accessing precise data on actual, current and past applications of products . This is why ANSES reiterates its recommendation to make data on the use of plant protection products accessible and to retain them over the long term.
Finally, the Agency recalls that reducing uses to what is strictly necessary is an essential element of risk control for biocidal, veterinary or phytopharmaceutical products, whether in professional or domestic settings, due to their proven pharmacological and/or toxicological effects.
Article: WeedsNews6904 (permalink) Categories: :WeedsNews:pyrethroids, :WeedsNews:health, :WeedsNews:policy, :WeedsNews:international policy Date: 26 May 2025; 7:25:18 am Australian Eastern Standard Time
