Pesticides cause 200,000 human deaths annually: UN
Global pesticide manufacturers deny the harm their products cause and use unethical marketing and lobbying to get around restrictions on their use, according to a UN report. It alleges an estimated 200,000 deaths a year are caused by acute poisoning and claims the link between pesticide use and eradication of hunger is "a myth". Additionally, the report accuses corporations of "aggressive, unethical marketing tactics", "systematic denial of harms" and the obstruction of reforms and global pesticide reductions with heavy lobbying. A global transition towards safer and healthier food and agriculture production is required, according to the authors.

Farmers can feed the world’s seven billion people without using pesticides, a report by UN special rapporteurs on toxics and the right to food says. Pesticide makers disagree. Photo: Reuters