European authorities playing with our children’s IQ
5.12.2019
Question for written answer E-004261/2019
to the Commission
Rule 138
Gilbert Collard (ID)
Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide whose disruptive effects on brain development in human embryos have been established by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the Harvard School of Public Health.
This endocrine disruptor can cause serious brain disorders in children: hyperactivity, autism or a loss of IQ of up to 7 points. This public health calamity has already led several US states and EU countries (including France) to ban it. However, the Commission has not banned this neurotoxic substance, which, through imported food, continues to contaminate the food chain.
The European authorities have mistakenly licensed and relicensed the use of this serious endocrine disruptor on the basis of a notice [1] dating from 1998, which was denounced 20 years later by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).
- 1.Will the Commission move swiftly to ban the use of chlorpyrifos?
- 2.Does the Commission believe that the EFSA should be restructured, as it has clearly proved incapable of carrying out its duty to alert the public?
- 3.Are those Member States which have banned the use of chlorpyrifos justified in taking health protection measures, particularly prohibiting imports of oranges grown in Spain, which have unacceptable levels of neurotoxic content?
- [1] Notice resulting from a study funded by the manufacturer of the neurotoxic substance in question!