By Andrea Barolini
The lucrative pesticide industry now sits in the hands of four industry giants who conceal results of toxicity tests on their products and bypass several European restrictions.
The global consumption of pesticides, weedkillers and fungicides has surged in the last few decades, seeing an increase of 80 per cent between 1990 and 2017.
Today, four million tonnes of pesticides are used per year. Half are weedkillers and 30 per cent are insecticides. Whilst some insects harm crops, others are essential for pollination.
Meanwhile, fungicides represent approximately 17 per cent of total pesticide use and are often used unnecessarily and dangerously. Most fungi are essential to crop production, the conservation of eco-systems and protecting biodiversity.
This article first appeared in Scarp de’ tenis, a magazine sold on the streets of Milan, Italy, by people who have limited other ways of earning an income.