A/HRC/34/48 damage inflicted by these chemicals, and aggressive, unethical marketing tactics remain unchallenged. 5. Exposure to pesticides can have severe impacts on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular the right to adequate food, as well as the right to health. The right to food obligates States to implement protective measures and food safety requirements to ensure that food is safe, free from pesticides and qualitatively adequate. Furthermore, human rights standards require States to protect vulnerable groups, such as farm workers and agricultural communities, children and pregnant women from the impacts of pesticides. 6. Although certain multinational treaties and non-binding initiatives offer some limited protections, a comprehensive treaty that regulates highly hazardous pesticides does not exist, leaving a critical gap in the human rights protection framework. 7. Without or with minimal use of toxic chemicals, it is possible to produce healthier, nutrient-rich food, with higher yields in the longer term, without polluting and exhausting environmental resources.6 The solution requires a holistic approach to the right to adequate food that includes phasing out dangerous pesticides and enforcing an effective regulatory framework grounded on a human rights approach, coupled with a transition towards sustainable agricultural practices that take into account the challenges of resource scarcity and climate change. II. Adverse impact of pesticides on human rights 8. Hazardous pesticides impose substantial costs on Governments and have catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole, implicating a number of human rights and putting certain groups at elevated risk of rights abuses.7 A. Human health 9. Few people are untouched by pesticide exposure. They may be exposed through food, water, air, or direct contact with pesticides or residues. However, given that most diseases are multi-causal, and bearing in mind that individuals tend to be exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals in their daily lives, establishing a direct causal link between exposure to pesticides and their effects can be a challenge for accountability and for victims seeking access to an effective remedy. Even so, persistent use of pesticides, in particular agrochemicals used in industrial farming, have been connected to a range of adverse health impacts, both at high and low exposure levels. 8 10. Pesticide poisonings remain a serious concern, especially in developing countries, even though these nations account for only 25 per cent of pesticide usage. In some countries, pesticide poisoning even exceeds fatalities from infectious diseases. 9 Tragic accidents involving poisoning include an incident in 1999 in Peru, where 24 schoolchildren died following the consumption of the highly toxic pesticide parathion, which had been 6 7 8 9 4 International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, Agriculture at a Crossroads: Synthesis Report (Washington, D.C., 2009), p. 3. For a discussion of some of these negative effects, see, e.g., UNEP, Costs of Inaction on the Sound Management of Chemicals (Geneva, 2013). Frank Eyhorn, Tina Roner and Heiko Specking, Reducing Pesticide Use and Risks — What Action is Needed?, Briefing Paper (HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, 2015), pp. 7-9. Michael Eddleston, “Pesticide poisoning in the developing world — a minimum pesticides list”, The Lancet, vol. 360, No. 9340 (12 October 2002), pp. 1163-1167.