Prohibition on growers from using crop protection products in lily cultivation
May 8, 2024
In Sevenum, a grower wants to grow lilies next to a residential area. Because a lot of crop protection products are sprayed frequently for lily cultivation, local residents are afraid of health damage to themselves and their children. The local residents therefore requested a ban on the use of the substances in summary proceedings, which took place on April 18, 2024. Today the judge granted the ban due to the real risk of damage to the health of local residents and their children.
The grower believes that the products are safe because they have been tested and approved for the Dutch market by the Board for the Authorization of Plant Protection Products. Moreover, he only wants to use the field for lily cultivation once every 10 years for 5 to 6 months. To accommodate local residents, he has offered to use a buffer zone of 50 meters and spray 'green' products. He also wants to use a spraying machine with drift reduction so that the wind does not blow the crop protection products towards local residents.
Testing does not provide certainty
The fact that the products have been tested and approved does not mean that the products are safe. When testing the drugs, they do not test for neurological consequences that only occur in the long term, such as Parkinson's disease. The tests also do not investigate developmental disorders in children.
Health damage
It is clear that crop protection products can cause health damage. According to reports from the Health Council and the RIVM from 2020 and 2021, there is a link between the use of the substances and so-called neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's in adults, but also prenatal developmental disorders in children. This is evident from international scientific studies. However, this general relationship does not say which substances cause health damage and in what quantities. This needs to be further investigated.
For this case, Dr. M. van den Berg, emeritus professor of Toxicology, has studied the list of products that the grower wants to spray. According to him, seven of the 'green' products that the grower wants to spray appear to have a real risk of serious neurological damage to health. Not only for adults, but it can also negatively affect the brain development of children during the mother's pregnancy and while growing up. Dr. Van den Berg could not say how much of these substances you need to consume for the damage to occur.
Near field
In the 5 to 6 months that the grower wants to spray the lilies with the products weekly, as much is sprayed as for some other crops in 10 years. So a lot of spraying takes place in a short time. The local residents, including 25 children, live close to the field. For some, including 7 children, that is only 10 meters away. The fact that the grower wants to install a buffer strip of 50 meters is not sufficient to prevent crop protection products from reaching local residents. A 2019 RIVM study showed that residues of crop protection products were found in the outdoor air of homes up to 250 meters away and even in the house dust and on the doormat and in the urine of local residents. This is despite the fact that there was no measurable 'drift' during spraying because the wind was not aimed at the residents' houses during spraying. The spraying machine with drift reduction that the grower wants to use is therefore not sufficient to prevent health damage.
Prohibition on use of substances
The summary proceedings judge therefore finds that there is a real risk of damage to the health of local residents and their children. That is more important than the commercial interest of the grower. That is why the summary proceedings judge prohibits the grower from using the products.
Source:
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisa...ieteelt vaak,gebruik van de middelen verzocht.
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