Call for fewer sprays
Call for fewer sprays
THE Transport and General Workers Union has called on the government to devise a national policy for reducing pesticide use.
In its report, Pesticide Reduction, the union claims farm workers are at risk from pesticide poisoning, adding that, every year, pesticides lead to 1m deaths worldwide in accidental poisonings.
TGWU general secretary Bill Morris said: "We owe it to ourselves, to the future of our country and the planet to find ways of reducing our use of pesticides. A national policy is long overdue."
In addition to human poisonings, the report claims that the 2.5m tonnes of active ingredient used worldwide contribute to pollution incidents.
The document focuses on agriculture, which it labels as a known and significant contributor to global warming, acid rain and water pollution.