FAO urges elimination of high-risk pesticides

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said on Tuesday that developing countries should expedite the removal of high-risk pesticides from the market given that 23 incidents of child deaths from pesticide-contaminated student meals have occurred in India.

Earlier this month, a free student lunch in Bihar, India was contaminated with a highly toxic pesticide, monocrotophos, which killed the student. Monocrotophos is listed as a high-risk pesticide by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The FAO statement stated: "The experience of many developing countries shows that the sale and use of such highly toxic products often pose serious risks to human health and the environment."