Failure to conform to international health standards

Authorities in one country tend, on specific issues, to fail to conform to internationally accepted health standards, or to conform to weaker standards when more recent research indicates that stronger standards are called for.

In 1985 in the UK it was reported that 49 pesticides in current use were probably carcinogenic, and that 38 of the most popular pesticides used were banned or severely restricted in other western countries. On examination of the scientific literature concerning the pesticides approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, 164 of 426 approved pesticides were known or suspected of causing a range of problems including cancer, birth defects, genetic defects, or irritations and allergies. About one third of these pesticides are approved for use on food products.