A/HRC/34/48 United States of America, where over 70 million pounds of atrazine are used annually, runoff into water supplies has been linked to increased risk of birth defects. 35 While atrazine was banned in the European Union in 2004, some European countries still detect it in groundwater today. B. Environmental impact 32. Pesticides can persist in the environment for decades and pose a global threat to the entire ecological system upon which food production depends. Excessive use and misuse of pesticides result in contamination of surrounding soil and water sources, causing loss of biodiversity, destroying beneficial insect populations that act as natural enemies of pests and reducing the nutritional value of food. 33. Pesticides contaminate and degrade soil to varying degrees. In China, recent studies released by the Government show moderate to severe contamination from pesticides and other pollutants on 26 million hectares of farmland, to the extent that farming cannot continue on approximately 20 per cent of arable land.36 34. Water contamination can be equally damaging. In Guatemala, for example, contamination of the Pasión River with the pesticide malathion, used on palm oil plantations, killed thousands of fish and affected 23 species of fish. This in turn deprived 12,000 people in 14 communities of their primary source of food and livelihood. 37 35. While regulators are mostly concerned about health risks through pesticide residues, their effects on non-target organisms are hugely underestimated. For example, neonicotinoids, a commonly used class of systemic insecticides, are causing soil degradation and water pollution and endangering vital ecosystem services such as biological pest control.38 Designed to damage the central nervous system of target pests, they can also cause harm to beneficial invertebrates as well as to birds, butterflies and other wildlife.39 36. Neonicotinoids are accused of being responsible for “colony collapse disorder” of bees worldwide.40 For example, heavy use of these insecticides has been blamed for the 50 per cent decline over 25 years in honeybee populations in both the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.41 This decline threatens the very basis of agriculture, given that wild bees and managed honeybees play the greatest role in pollinating crops. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), of some 100 crop species (which provide 90 per cent of global 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 FindLaw, Atrazuine Lawsuit Overview (2016), available from http://injury.findlaw.com/productliability/atrazine-lawsuit-overview.html. Caixin Online, “China’s tainted soil initiative lacks pay plan”, 6 August 2016, available from http://english.caixin.com/2016-06-08/100952896.html. See case GTM 4/2015 in document A/HRC/31/79. The Taskforce on Systemic Pesticides, Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (9 January 2015). Peter Jenkins, Net Loss: Economic Efficacy and Cost of Neonicotinoid Insecticides Used as Seed Coatings: Updates from the United States and Europe (Center for Food Safety, 2016). Beyond Pesticides, “BEE protective: chemicals implicated”, available from http://www.beyondpesticides.org/programs/bee-protective-pollinators-and-pesticides/chemicalsimplicated. Guardian, “Pesticides linked to honeybee decline”, 29 March 2012. 9