The Hidden Rise of UK Pesticide Use: Fact-checking an Industry Claim March 2018 The pro-pesticide lobby regularly claim that “the amount of pesticides used in the UK has halved since 1990”. It uses this statistic to respond to growing public concerns over the negative impacts caused by pesticides and to resist calls for stricter regulations or restrictions on pesticide use. Ultimately, it is used to imply that UK citizens and the natural environment are less exposed to the harmful impacts of pesticides than they were 25 years ago and we therefore don’t need stronger protection measures. But is this claim accurate and does it really reveal that we are less exposed to pesticides than in 1990? This briefing from PAN UK takes a closer look at this claim. We will show that it is misleading and hides the fact that, in many cases, and by most internationally accepted measures, pesticide use is rising as is our exposure to their harmful impacts. Pesticide use in the UK is extremely complex and the aim of this briefing is not to give the reader a complete picture. Rather it will highlight a range of ways in which UK pesticide use is rising, in contrast to the line touted by the pesticide industry. Unless otherwise stated, all figures in this briefing are taken from publicly available, official UK government data. The Pesticide Usage Survey Statistics (PUS STATS) are hosted on the website of Fera Science Ltd (Fera) on behalf of Defra and can be accessed at: https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/pusstats
Response from the National Farmers Union in January 2018 to polling which revealed that 67% of UK citizens think that the use of pesticides should be reduced: “…British farmers remain committed to continued high levels of consumer and environmental protection, which they achieve by having food production standards that are among the best in the world. The amount of pesticides used in the UK has halved since 1990. Farmers continue to adopt an integrated approach to pest management which sees them use a mixture of traditional and modern farming methods to deal with problems and ensure the use of pesticides is kept to a minimum.” 1