Opponents of pesticides are happy to give the impression that «pesticides are becoming increasingly toxic». But this is misleading. A range of data proves that enormous progress has been made since the 1960s. The quantities of active ingredients used per hectare has decreased by 90 percent since 1962. Back then, a farmer would have had to apply 10 kilograms of an active ingredient per hectare, while now this is reduced to less than 1 kilogram.

And when you consider that 55% of pesticides are less toxic than vitamin C, 89% less toxic than ibuprofen and 98% of them less toxic than caffeine and aspirin, as the Consumer Choice Center has found, there is even less reason to fear pesticides alone.

The risks are falling

This development is also reflected in the Department for Agriculture’s pesticide sales statistics. These show that the sale of high-risk pesticides for conventional agriculture has fallen 35 percent over the last ten years. The proportion of high-risk pesticides among the total amount sold is eleven percent. At 34 percent, the most widespread ingredient by some margin is copper, which is also used in organic farming. The risks of using pesticides in conventional farming have been dropping steadily for years. The trend is moving in the right direction.