Crop-chemical companies withheld vital data on the brain toxicity of some products from EU regulators, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing a new study by Stockholm University.
Because of different requirements, US regulators got full access to dossiers that included the developmental neurotoxicity studies. It wasn’t until 14 to 21 years later that EU authorities became aware of the studies that outlined dangers to brain size, sexual maturation and reduced weight gain and were then able to introduce new safety limits in some cases, the paper reported.
Researchers found 35 DNT studies were submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency as part of the pesticide approval process, nine of which were never made it into the dossiers sent to the EU for the same products, according to the Guardian. The withheld studies include data on abamectin, ethoprophos and pyridaben insecticides, plus the fluazinam fungicide. These chemicals are or have been used on a range of crops including tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes and aubergines.
The full article can be found here.