PRESS RELEASE
– THURSDAY 23RD
MARCH 2006
The woman who took on the Government over
pesticides wins prestigious award at the 2006 British Environment and Media
Awards (BEMAs)
The woman who has fought a determined and relentless
5-year campaign against the Government over pesticide spraying received one of
the highest accolades last night by winning a prestigious award at the 2006
British Environment and Media Awards, sponsored by WWF-UK, in recognition of her
campaigning efforts.
Georgina Downs of UK Pesticides Campaign,
(www.pesticidescampaign.co.uk), the leading campaign
highlighting the effects of pesticides on people in rural areas (commonly known
as “residents” and “bystanders”), decided to take on the
Government in early 2001 after she discovered that there was no legal protection
for people in the countryside from exposure to
pesticides.
Ms. Downs, who has lived next to pesticide sprayed fields
for over 22 years, was the first to identify serious fundamental flaws in the
Government’s “bystander risk assessment,” and immediately started
campaigning for an overhaul of the regulations and legislation governing
agricultural spraying. This included the call for an immediate ban on
crop-spraying and the use of pesticides near to people's homes, schools,
workplaces and any other places of human habitation and for direct public access
to the information on the chemicals sprayed on crops.
Ms. Downs’ campaign led to two Government Consultation’s
on crop-spraying, followed by a year long investigation by the Royal Commission
on Environmental Pollution (RCEP).
The RCEP report published in September 2005 entitled
“Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders,” concluded
that crop-spraying is a potential health risk and that chronic illnesses and
diseases reported by people in rural areas, including cancer, leukaemia,
Parkinson’s and ME could be associated with pesticide
exposure.
The RCEP’s findings were highly critical
of both the Government’s key scientific advisors on pesticides: the regulators,
the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides
(ACP). The RCEP concluded that there was insufficient scientific evidence to
support the previous assurances given to Ministers by PSD and ACP that the
current system provides adequate protection. The RCEP questioned the
independence of the PSD, which receives 60% of its funding from the
agro-chemical industry and suggested that the PSD’s current structure seemed to
be making health and environmental considerations subordinate to pest control.
The Government are due to respond to the RCEP report this summer.
Ms. Downs states, “I feel very honoured to have won
this award and I am very grateful to all those who have supported the campaign.
The last 5 years have been a real battle, but I shall continue to fight on until
the Government stop exposing people to these poisonous chemicals and start
making the protection of public health and the environment the number one
priority, instead of simply protecting industry interests. The Government has
continued to deny the evidence by maintaining that pesticides do not pose a risk
to public health, which is grossly misleading and the Government must be held
accountable for its actions.”
Notes to Editors:-
- The 2006 British Environment and Media Awards (BEMAs)
Gala Dinner and Awards hosted by Alistair McGowan were held at the East
Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AB on Wednesday 22nd March
2006. The BEMAs www.bemas.org.uk are
presented by WWF-UK, created by Media Natura and sponsored by Andrew Peace,
Belu, Blitz, Dsigroup, Northumbrian Water, RSPB and WWAV Rapp Collins,
London
- Georgina Downs was a joint winner of the Andrew Lees
Memorial Award along with John Stewart of Hacan ClearSkies http://www.hacan.org.uk
This award is judged by national newspaper and
broadcasting correspondents in memory of the former Friends of the Earth
campaigner. It marks Andrew Lees' reputation for campaigning on environmental
issues based on painstaking research. The winner is someone who the judges
feel makes a difference through his or her energy and 'can-do'
attitude
- Ms. Downs will be in London on 23rd March
2006 and is available for any interviews
- Pictures of all award winners, including Georgina
Downs, are available from Kellie Rollings, Assistant Media Officer, WWF-UK –
Tel:- 01483 412383 Email:- krollings@wwf.org.uk
· Georgina Downs campaigns
to highlight the adverse health and environmental effects of pesticides. She has
lived next to regularly sprayed fields for 22 years and has long-standing health
problems. Ms. Downs produced 2 videos "Pesticide Exposures for People in
Agricultural Areas – Part 1 Pesticides in the Air; Part 2 The Hidden Costs"
to illustrate chemical exposure and the effects on people in rural areas. The
second video featured people from all over the country reporting cases of
cancers, leukaemia, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, neurological problems, including
Parkinson’s disease and ME, amongst many other illnesses, in rural communities
surrounded by sprayed fields
· Ms. Downs was recently
listed in the Farmers Weekly Top 20 Power Players in UK Farming, following the
impact of her campaign. Others included in the list were Gordon Brown, Margaret
Beckett, Peter Mandelson, Prince Charles, Jacques Chirac and Jamie Oliver. For
the full list see:- http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2006/01/19/92020/Power+Players.html
- The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s
report entitled “Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and
Bystanders” is available at:- www.rcep.org.uk/cropspraying.htm
- Ms. Downs submitted
considerable written evidence to the RCEP study. She was also an invited
speaker at the RCEP public meeting held on September 25th 2004 and
gave oral evidence to the Commission members a few months later. Ms. Downs
also peer reviewed 4 chapters of the RCEP
report
Contact: Georgina Downs
UK Pesticides Campaign
Telephone: 01243 773846
Mobile: 07906 898 915