European companies issued notifications, in the second half of 2022, about the export of more than 380 tons of banned chlorpyrifos insecticides to countries outside the EU, including Tunisia, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Costa Rica, reads a survey conducted by Unearthed, Greenpeace and Swiss NGO Public Eye.

The same companies plan to ship similar amounts this year, the same source said, adding that they received documents obtained under freedom of information laws.

The investigation reveals for the first time Europe’s continued export trade in chlorpyrifos since its use was prohibited in the EU in 2020, after years of campaigning by health and environmental groups.

Unneathed said Tunisia was the second-largest market of EU’s chlorpyrifos exports, by volume, in 2022. «The North African country was the intended destination for 70 tonnes of the chlorpyrifos-based insecticide Pyrical 480, exported from Belgium by Arysta LifeScience Benelux. The Belgian company, a subsidiary of the pesticide giant UPL, plans to send the same amount again to Tunisia this year,» the same source added.

This ‘organophosphate’ pesticide was banned from EU fields in response to scientific evidence that it caused «adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in children». There are decades of research suggesting chlorpyrifos exposure harms young children and babies in the womb. Studies have linked pre-birth exposure to the chemical to developmental delays, autism, and reduction in IQ; one study found that the greater a mother’s exposure to the chemical during pregnancy, the lower her child’s IQ at the age of seven.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP)