WWF and the National Toxics Network have now released a list of Australia's most dangerous pesticides, more than 80 of which are prohibited overseas because of the risks they pose to human health and the environment.
The list includes 17 chemicals that are known, likely or probable carcinogens, and 48 chemicals flagged as having the potential to interfere with hormones.
More than 20 have been classified as either extremely or highly hazardous by the World Health Organisation yet remain available for use on Australian farms. Surely Australian farm workers, wildlife and ecosystems deserve the same level of protection as those in Europe or the United States.
Jo Immig from the National Toxics Network said the list was evidence that Australia's chemical regulatory system was failing to keep people and the environment safe from dangerous pesticides.
"European pesticides regulation is founded on a precautionary principle designed to give human health and the environment the benefit of the doubt," Ms Immig said.
"Here in Australia we have the opposite, where chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer and other health problems remain on the market for years."
The pesticides regulator must recognise that while Australia may have unique wildlife and different farming conditions, the chemistry of these dangerous pesticides is the still the same. If smoking causes cancer in the US, it will also cause cancer in Australia - it's the carcinogens that matter not the country.
Read the report hereAustralia's pesticide laws are hard to believe -- WWF-Australia
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