WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(22 November 2000)

Subject: The pesticide Rotenone as a possible cause of Parkinson's disease

1. Is the Commission aware of reports, for example in the online news service Nature Science Today and in the Financial Times (both 6 November 2000) to the effect that scientists think long-term exposure to the pesticide Rotenone is a possible cause of Parkinson's disease?

2. Is the Commission aware that this insecticide is based on a natural vegetable product which, in contrast to synthetic pesticides, is itself degraded and has accordingly been regarded hitherto as safe and environmentally friendly, but which in rats can result in major brain deformities and impaired use of the legs/paws?

3. Is the Commission also aware that Rotenone is popular with amateur gardeners, people who work in the farming sector and who use the product to kill unwanted fish in fish-breeding ponds and lakes and that potentially there may be significant numbers of victims?

4. What does the Commission intend to do to regulate the use of this insecticide, or to modify the labelling provisions in such a way that users are made aware of the possible risks?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2001)

1. The Commission is aware of various scientific reports raising doubts about the safety of the pesticide rotenone and showing that acute exposure to the chemical leads to Parkinson like symptoms in rats. The cause(s) of the disease and the role of genetics in its onset are still unknown. A research project funded by the Commission is currently investigating the interactions between environmental exposures (in particular chemicals) and genetic factors in the origin of Parkinson's disease. Results are expected in 2003.

2. to 4. Rotenone is a natural plant extract. In certain Member States it is authorised for use in agriculture and horticulture as an insecticide. The marketing and use of plant protection products in the Community is regulated by Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991, on the placing of plant protection products on the market(1). The Commission is responsible for the evaluation of the active substances used in plant protection and for decisions on whether to include them in a positive list (Annex I of the directive) of substances whose use may be allowed in the Community. The Commission will inform, later this year, both the Parliament and the Council of the progress on the re-evaluation programme. Rotenone has not yet been evaluated at Community level because the first priority of the Commission in setting up a work programme on the revaluation of existing active substances was to evaluate synthetic chemical substances. Therefore, at this stage, Member States continue to be responsible to ensure that plant protection products containing rotenone are not authorised unless they establish that, inter alia, such products have no harmful effect on human health, having regard to all normal conditions under which they may be used. The Commission will however inform the Member States about the new information. The Commission, in the light of the views of the Member States and other interested parties, may also propose to include rotenone as a priority in its next phase of the review programme for existing active substances, or take action in the framework of Directive 79/117/EEC of 21 December 1978, prohibiting the placing on the market and use of plant protection products containing certain active substances(2).

The use against undesirable fish is within the scope of Directive 98/8/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market(3). Being an existing active substance it will be evaluated according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 of 7 September 2000 on the first phase of the programme referred to in Article 16(2) of Directive 98/8/EC of the Parliament and of the Council on biocidal products(4) if industry commits to submit relevant information for the evaluation of the risks for human health and the environment. Any information arising from this evaluation relevant to the use of rotenone in other areas will of course be taken into account by the Commission. In case no such commitment is communicated to the Commission, rotenone will be withdrawn from the market. Up to this Community evaluation, existing national rules will continue to apply.

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.

(2) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979.

(3) OJ L 123, 24.4.1998.

(4) OJ L 228, 8.9.2000.