A call for no-spray buffer zones on farms to protect the public from potential health risks from pesticides has been rejected by a group of scientists in a report commissioned by Britain s farm ministry. "Inappropriate precaution distorts public perception of risk and leads people to restrict their activities unnecessarily," said David Coggon of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides in a report issued on Monday.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution called for a 5 metre buffer zone in a report issued last year to provide "necessary further protection" to residents and bystanders from potential health risks from pesticide spraying. "If we thought the current margins of safely gave insufficient protection to neighbours, we would recommend that the use be banned rather than relying on a buffer zone to reduce exposure," Coggon said.

The royal commission reported that it was "plausible that there could be a link between resident and bystander pesticide exposure and chronic ill health." Figures are not available for how many people claim they are suffering from ill health caused by exposure to pesticides through crop spraying.

A pressure group, Pesticide Action Network, said 16 cases were added to its database in 2005 but added there could be many others which were not reported to the network. Crop spraying predominantly takes place on arable and horticultural farms, which account for 4.6 million hectares or about 25 percent of Britain s agricultural land. Fields are sprayed an average of five times a year.
(Planet Ark, 06/02/06)