Cancer-linked pesticides that have been detected in UK food imports have sparked public health concerns among campaigners.
The UK Government tested a total of 1,046 samples of imported food of non-animal origin – mainly fruit and vegetables as well as some processed foods such as bread and cereal snacks – in 2023.
Campaigners from the Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), who analysed the quarterly test results, said 46 different pesticides were detected among the imported food samples, which research has found to be carcinogenic, including UK-banned pesticides iprodione and chlorothalonil.
This compared with 19 cancer-linked pesticides detected in the 917 tested samples of UK-grown food.
Toxic pesticides found to negatively affect sexual function and fertility, neurotoxins that impact the nervous system and endocrine disrupting chemicals that interfere with hormone systems were also detected in the tests.
Again, a higher number of these pesticides were found in imported food samples compared with UK-grown food samples, according to the analysis.
The same trend was identified for the number of pesticides containing long-lasting PFA chemicals, with 12 detected in imported food, compared with five in UK-grown food.
Imported food was found to contain residues of 48 pesticides that are not approved for use by British farmers, with campaigners warning of the unfair advantage this gives foreign growers.
These included carbaryl and diazinon – both endocrine disrupting chemicals which have been linked to cancer – as well as the bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid, which was found on potatoes, peas and grapes imported from a range of countries.
Few of the test samples showed these pesticides exceeding the maximum residue level (MRL) allowed in food by UK law.
But again, the tests showed 24 samples of imported food containing levels that exceeded the MRL, compared with eight for UK-grown food.
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducts a risk assessment of all pesticide residues found in the testing programme and takes further action if risks to health are identified.
The HSE says that even when a food contains a residue above the MRL, it rarely finds any likely risk to the health of the people who have eaten the food.
However, Pan UK has long argued that MRLs do not take into account the potential cumulative exposure from other sources of toxins in everyday life, such as plastic food packaging and a wide range of household products, or growing evidence of the health risk posed by combinations of these chemicals.
The Environment Department highlighted that MRLs are not a safety limit and that the HSE’s monitoring programme provides assurance that food on the UK market complies with the rules and is safe to eat.
The programme also considers the possible implications to health of more than one pesticide being found in samples, focusing on select groups that are considered a priority based on toxicity considerations, it added.
The analysis comes as Pan UK releases its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of produce most likely to contain harmful cocktails of pesticides.
Samples of grapes imported from Lebanon, beans imported from Thailand, and pears imported from Turkey were found to have 13, 12 and 10 different types of pesticides, the campaigners found.
Nick Mole, policy officer at Pan UK, said: “While the results for UK produce are also concerning, when it comes to pesticides that pose a risk to consumer health, imports tend to be far worse than food grown here in the UK.
“With rates of diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s on the rise, we should be doing everything we can to reduce our chemical exposure.”
Mr Mole said: “By allowing banned pesticides in our imports, the UK is exporting its environmental and human health footprint abroad.
“Farmworkers and wildlife in countries where our food is grown are exposed to these dangerous chemicals and will suffer the associated harms.
Mr Mole also argued that it undermines British farmers at a time when they are being asked to produce more sustainably.
“If the Government is serious about protecting British consumers and supporting our farmers, it can kill two birds with one stone by not allowing food imports grown using pesticides banned for use domestically to enter Great Britain,” he said.
Mr Mole said “major questions” remain over whether British border controls are robust enough to detect food imports contaminated with pesticides, with campaigners long raising concerns over the small number of samples tested each year.
A Defra spokesperson said: “We have strict limits on pesticide residues in place, set after rigorous risk assessments to ensure levels are safe for the public.
“These limits apply to both food produced domestically and imported from other countries.”
