Human Exposure to Possibly Neurotoxic Pesticides Should Be Reduced, E.U. Safety Agency Recommends

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=human-exposure-to-possibly-neurotoxic-pesticides-should-be-reduced-eu-safety-agency-recommends&WT.mc_id=SA_Facebook

By Daniel Cressey and Nature magazine
December 17, 2013

Europe should slash the acceptable human exposure limits on two neonicotinoids — a class of insecticide previously linked to bee declines — says a key European Union safety agency.

In a report released today, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), based in Parma, Italy, says that recent research suggests that acetamiprid and imidacloprid “may affect the developing human nervous system”.

-----

That paper, published in PLoS ONE by Junko Kimura-Kuroda of the Toyko Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, and colleagues, found that both acetamiprid and imidacloprid triggered similar effects in cultures of rat neurons as are seen with nicotine. The authors point out that as nicotine may disrupt brain development in humans, so neonicotinoids “may adversely affect human health, especially the developing brain”.

-----