The Impact of Pesticides on Brain Development – New Research Reveals Serious Gaps in the EU

Most people believe that a pesticide can only reach the market after undergoing rigorous scientific testing and detailed oversight by regulatory institutions. This trust forms the very foundation of Europe’s entire food safety system. However, what if the problem lies not in the science itself, but in the way scientific data is collected, interpreted, and controlled?

This is precisely what new research by scientists at the University of Stockholm warns about, raising serious questions regarding the reliability of the European pesticide approval system.

At the center of attention is the fungicide fluazinam, a substance that has been used in agriculture for years. The researchers re-analyzed data from laboratory studies funded by the industry itself and arrived at a worrying conclusion: potentially harmful effects on brain development in the offspring of experimental animals were concealed through incorrect statistical reporting.

Even more concerning is the fact that one key developmental neurotoxicity study was submitted to the regulatory bodies of the European Union only 15 years later, and even then, only after it had been specifically requested by the authorities. All the while, the pesticide remained approved for use.

Where does the problem arise?

European regulations are considered among the strictest in the world. However, their greatest paradox is that a large portion of safety studies are funded precisely by the companies seeking market approval for their products.

Of course, laboratories conducting the tests must operate according to prescribed standards. But even when experiments are technically carried out correctly, the way results are statistically processed or presented can significantly alter the final conclusion.

In the case of fluazinam, it was precisely the re-analysis of the same data that revealed what the initial assessment had failed to recognize.

This raises an important question: how many similar cases might exist among the thousands of chemicals we use on a daily basis?

Even EFSA experts were not convinced by the initial analysis

Adding further weight to the entire case is the fact that the Neurotoxicity Working Group, which advises the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), considered precisely the issue of fluazinam’s possible impact on brain development in July 2024.

In their recommendations, the experts assessed that the statistical analysis conducted by the authors of the original study had significant limitations. Namely, data for male and female rats were analyzed separately, even though the results indicate that the effect on brain weight was present in both sexes. According to the experts’ opinion, pooling the data, in line with international guidelines for statistical processing, would have increased statistical reliability and made it easier to detect the true effect.

The Working Group additionally highlighted that in female rats, 66 days after birth, a reduction in brain weight was recorded that exceeded one standard deviation compared to the control group, a finding that may indicate a biologically significant effect and warrants serious regulatory attention.

Is fluazinam also used in our region?

Fluazinam is a registered active substance in Serbia and is found in several fungicides intended for the protection of agricultural crops. It is primarily used to control potato late blight, apple scab, grapevine diseases, and also in certain strawberry and raspberry plantations, depending on the registered product. On the domestic market, it is available through preparations from various manufacturers and distributors.

The situation is similar in the region. Preparations based on fluazinam are registered, or have until recently been registered, in Croatia, where they are primarily used in potato production to control late blight.

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no single state-level register of plant protection products, as registration is conducted at the entity level. Therefore, it is not possible to unequivocally state that the active substance is currently registered throughout the entire country. However, given the market connectivity of the region and the fact that fluazinam-based preparations are present in neighboring countries, this active substance is well-known to producers in BiH as well.

Deregulation or stronger control?

At a time when the European Union is considering simplifying procedures through a new legislative package on food and feed safety, the fluazinam case serves as a serious warning.

Researchers from the University of Stockholm believe that the solution does not lie in further relaxing the rules, but quite the opposite – in stronger regulatory oversight, greater institutional capacities, and increased independence of scientific assessments.

One of their most interesting proposals is that toxicity studies should henceforth be commissioned by public institutions, with the industry bearing the costs but not managing the process. This would significantly reduce the potential conflict of interest.

The fluazinam case does not mean that all pesticides are dangerous, nor that the regulatory system does not function. But it shows that no system is immune to oversights.

Milena Maglovski