Fears over use of untested pesticides

ALMOST 850 potentially cancer-causing pesticides have yet to be tested and are still being used without the necessary precautions, the EU’s Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner has warned.

About 450 pesticides have been banned in recent years because they cause cancer, sterility and birth defects in humans and affect animals and the environment.

But of the 1,000 remaining on the market only 150 have been given the all-clear and the rest are waiting for testing to be completed.