Pesticides are the threat to our health

Synthetic pesticides are everywhere: in our food, in our drinking water, in our bodies, and in the bodies of our children.

In short, they are poisoning the population. The initiative for a Switzerland free of synthetic pesticides therefore demands, based on thousands of independent scientific studies, that public health be consistently protected through a ban on these toxins. A letter signed by several hundred doctors and health experts supports the necessity of the Pesticides Initiative.

Studies show that dozens of synthetic pesticides can be found in our hair, in our blood, in the umbilical cord, in breast milk, and even in urine. Prolonged exposure to this toxic cocktail is demonstrably linked to conditions such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, infertility, and neurological as well as sexual developmental problems in children and adults. All of this applies even when pesticides or their breakdown products arepresent in very low concentrations, as is often the case in our food.

Many of these toxic substances are hormonally active, which renders any limit values redundant, as even far smaller quantities negatively affect the human hormonal system. This has particularly dramatic consequences during the prenatal stage in children.

Dr. med. Jérôme Tschudi, physician and medical advisor to the Pesticides Initiative

An analysis commissioned by «bon a savoir» has recently demonstrated that residues of various synthetic pesticides were detected in the bodies of 100 percent of the Swiss children tested. «This result is alarming and calls for decisive action. It shows that the health risk in Switzerland is just as dramatic as in other countries. We definitely need to act!» says Antoinette Gilson, biologist and co-initiator. The analysis mentioned also serves as the basis for the main visual of the voting campaign for the initiative for a Switzerland without synthetic pesticides.

The scientific facts speak a clear language.

Our Federal President and Minister of Agriculture Guy Parmelin is denying the danger posed by synthetic pesticides, thereby endangering the health of the Swiss population. His connections to the agro-chemical industry do little to help his credibility here.

Edward Mitchell, Professor of Biology and co-initiator

In recent weeks, the Federal President has repeatedly spread misinformation about the pesticide initiative and is using his position to unjustly frighten the population about the possible effects of the initiative. A “Yes” to the initiative for a Switzerland without synthetic pesticides is therefore a clear signal to place the health of the population at the centre of all efforts, and can simultaneously be understood as a rejection of a system that works against health and nature.

Regrettably, the effects of synthetic pesticides on public health were completely ignored by the Federal Council and Parliament during the debate surrounding the initiative for a Switzerland without synthetic pesticides. The Federal Council did not bother to draft a counter-proposal. A completely toothless parliamentary initiative was adopted. «It does not, however, adequately address the health risks arising from the consumption of food contaminated with synthetic pesticides» says Dominik Waser, committee member. Politics has thus shown that it is incapable of providing an adequate response to the urgent problems at hand.The people can still set this right with a “Yes” to the Pesticide Initiative on 13 June.