Continuing fall in pesticide complaints, says HSE

The HSE's Field Operations Directorate (FOD) investigated 69 complaints over the period, 22 of which concerned allegations of ill health. This is the lowest figure since 1994/95, and stands around half the average of the last ten years.

A quarter of the cases related to human health were judged "confirmed" or "likely" by the Pesticide Incidents Appraisal Panel (PIAP) - in line with historical average. All of the cases were considered "mild" by the panel.

The most common active ingredients in the cases investigated were pendimethalin and flufenacet, with five cases each.

Meanwhile the 16th edition of British Crop Production Council's (BCPC) Pesticide Manual has been published, listing over 10,000 products and running to nearly 1,500 pages. For more information go to the BCPC website