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PERSISTENT and excessive use of chemical pesticides on food crops has led many consumers to worry about contamination and its long-term effects on their health.
Environmentalists are also concerned about the impact of such chemicals on wildlife. Farm workers using such chemicals regularly are another group at risk.
Thanks to a grant of 316,000 pounds from the United Kingdom Research Council's Rural Economy & Land Use programme, scientists at Warwick University (at Warwick HRI, formerly Horticultural Research International) and researchers in the university's department of politics and international studies are to launch a project to study the science and regulation of bio-pesticides in the UK.
Evidence abounds to bear out the dangers. According to the World Health Organisation (2003), the use of man-made chemicals, such as pesticides, has increased substantially over the last several decades. Exposure to such chemicals can have various harmful effects - from the development of cancer and chronic respiratory diseases - to death.
Those most vulnerable to health risks are the poor, particularly women and children. Workers and consumers are also at risk. The International Labour Organisation estimates that occupational exposure to hazardous substances may be responsible for 340,000 deaths a year globally.
Pesticides can also harm wildlife through direct and indirect poisoning, chemical build-ups in plants and water and habitat changes - with the result that damage is done to animals that have no direct connection with the original pest.
A potential solution is to use nature's own pesticides - naturally occurring living organisms such as fungi, bacteria and viruses - that attack insects. Many of these bio-pesticides are as effective as chemical products but do not have the same harmful side-effects as chemicals.
But much research remains to be done to understand exactly how these bio-pesticides operate and what impact they could have on sustainable pest management if widely adopted.
In addition to studying how they work, the project will evaluate the effect of government regulations on their development and uptake. Because the current UK regulatory system was designed for chemical pesticides, innovations may well be required if it is to be suitable for the use of bio-pesticides.
The programme will draw on research strengths both in biological and social sciences. Warwick HRI's bio-pesticide scientist Dr Dave Chandler and leading rural economy and society researcher Professor Wyn Grant in the Department of Politics & International Studies will collaborate on the project to share their complementary expertise.
Dr Chandler will carry out research on the sustainability of the use of bio-pesticides. He will look in particular at whether they are likely to remain in the environment when released on a large scale and how they interact with local microbial populations.
For his study he will use as a model system - the insect-destroying fungus, Metarhizum flavoviride - that will be used as a bio-pesticide against aphids on lettuce.
Professor Grant will consider how the UK pesticide regulatory system impacts on the development and use of bio-pesticides. Based on the use of chemical insecticides, the existing regulatory model focuses attention on the short-term economic costs of pest-control measures rather than their long-term impact on the environment and the sustainability of farming systems.
But bio-pesticides could bring long-term environmental protection and social benefits that chemical pesticides cannot deliver. Any regulatory innovation that took proper account of such innovations would be a significant spur to the future development of bio-pesticide products.
— London Press Service
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