Need to regulate pesticide testing

2001/12/18 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Farmakologia
• Medikuntza

This type of testing is often used by companies to determine the minimum amount of pesticides that cause damage in humans. The damage is measured by analyzing the headache, nausea, and changing activity of the enzymes in the blood, so people who do the tests often have problems. For this reason, a certain remuneration is granted to those who present themselves to carry out these tests. And it is that, unlike the trials performed to test the efficacy of drugs, in trials with pesticides, people have no benefit. This is the argument that the Environmental Protection Agency has used to question the ethics of the sessions.

For a few weeks there has been a debate in which the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to regulate this type of session. Some scientists believe that in many cases it is not enough to test with other animal species, since they cannot ensure that what is seen in these animals can also occur in the case of human beings. However, the agency has seen the need to regulate it and for this purpose has requested help from the National Academy of American Science.