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Stay away from roses this Valentine\u2019s Day, environmental campaigners have warned after testing revealed them to be heavily contaminated with pesticides.<\/p>\n
Laboratory testing on bouquets in the Netherlands<\/a>, Europe\u2019s flower import hub, found roses had the highest residues of neurological and reproductive toxins compared with other flowers.<\/p>\n Red roses were found to be the worst, with one bunch containing traces of 26 different pesticides, half of which are banned for use in the EU.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing says love like roses coated in a fine chemical cocktail,\u201d said Roisin Taylor, of Verde Flower Co in Northumberland, whose business focuses on sustainable flowers and who has been campaigning to raise awareness of pesticides in the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThings like clofentazine, a chemical found to disrupt the working of your thyroid, or even carbendazim, which is believed to be a human cancer-causing chemical, or maybe chlorfenapyr, which has been found to, ironically, lead to cardiac arrest when exposed in high dose.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these chemicals are also currently banned for use in the EU. We couldn\u2019t, as flower farmers, legally use these toxic chemicals here in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Valentine\u2019s Day is the flower industry\u2019s busiest time of the year. According to analysts<\/a>, about 200m roses are produced to meet the demand for lovers\u2019 gifts on 14 February in Europe alone.<\/p>\n More than half on sale in the UK have been sourced from the Netherlands. But for most stems, that is just the last leg of a much longer journey from farms in countries such as Colombia, Kenya<\/a> and Ethiopia, where the climate allows for year-round production and laxer regulatory regimes allow for more powerful pesticides.<\/p>\n To determine the levels of pesticide residues on flowers likely to be on sale this Valentine\u2019s Day, Pesticide Action Network Netherlands (Pan-NL) randomly tested 17 bouquets \u2013 five bunches of roses, eight mixed bouquets, and four bunches of tulips.<\/p>\n The highest concentration of pesticide residues was found on a bouquet of red roses bought from a Dutch garden centre, with 65.8 mg\/kg. Of 26 pesticides detected on the sample, 13 were banned for use in the EU.<\/p>\n None of the bouquets tested were pesticide-free, but the roses and mixed bouquets contained the most residues. Among those, the analysis found 87 different pesticides, including eight metabolites, roughly equally split between insecticides and fungicides.<\/p>\n Of the 79 active substances found, almost a third were banned for use as \u201cplant protection products\u201d in the EU and the Netherlands, while 78% \u201cpose[d] a significant risk to human health and\/or the environment\u201d, said Pan-NL. Among the pesticides Pan-NL found on the flowers were known neuro- and reproductive toxins, as well as carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.<\/p>\n The findings come amid growing concerns in the floristry sector<\/a> around the chemicals to which workers are exposed and their health effects. But in producer countries, such as Kenya<\/a>, the problems are even more acute.<\/p>\n David Bek, a professor at the University of Coventry who researches the flower industry, described how the farms around Lake Naivasha, Kenya\u2019s major flower-producing region, doused crops repeatedly in chemicals to keep pests at bay.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are basically flower factories,\u201d <\/em>he said, with flowers grown in vast quantities in sealed polytunnels, then sorted, trimmed, bunched and packed by hundreds of workers in processing areas.<\/p>\n Bek said spraying happened at almost every stage of the production process, but particularly as they prepared to ship. \u201cThat\u2019s what they have to do to make sure they don\u2019t end up with problems that mean the consignment will get rejected when it gets to the border.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n So where does that leave those of us looking for a Valentine\u2019s gift? Pan-NL recommended \u201corganically grown seasonal flowers or organically grown ornamental plants\u201d.<\/p>\n And for those of us who do receive a \u201cpoison bouquet\u201d? The advice is clear: \u201cDon\u2019t throw the remains on the compost heap or in the organic waste bin, but with residual waste. This prevents the toxins from being recycled in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n