Press releases

An Antidote Europe-funded study demonstrates the harmful effects of mixtures of the pesticides pyrimethanil, cyprodinil and fludioxonil.

A scientific study conducted by Aston University in Britain and funded by NGOs Future Generations and Antidote Europe has been published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One. The study demonstrates the harmful effects of mixtures of some commonly used pesticides. The aim of the study was to evaluate health risks of chemical mixtures versus single pesticides.

Each of us, regardless of age, is exposed daily to dozens of synthetic chemicals whose toxicity as mixtures is largely unknown. Future Generations and Antidote Europe joined forces to address this urgent problem. The two organisations commissioned a university team to test the effects of different combinations of three common fungicides (pyrimethanil, cyprodinil and fludioxonil) on human glial and neuronal cells in culture, which are representative of the human central nervous system. The results of this scientific study were recently published under the title: A preliminary investigation into the impact of a pesticide combination on human neuronal and glial cell lines in vitro, MD Coleman et al. 

Says Professor Michael Coleman, who led the study: “This work shows that some pesticides, alone or in combination, can induce stress and significantly affect human cells. They can also interfere with basic cellular processes such as energy production. These effects were demonstrated at concentrations similar to those found in our food. This work suggests that we should make greater efforts to restrict pesticide use in crops intended for food.”

Claude Reiss
Tel: (0)4 76 36 35 87

Science has moved forward 65 years since the end of World War II but the laws have not yet caught up with the science.

A doctor, lawyer and university professor of neuroscience have just released startling new evidence to show that the Nuremberg Code may actually be causing harm to people’s health in the present day. Although intended to protect humans from unethical experiments following World War II, the Nuremberg Code requirement that animals be used in research and testing means that we are allowing dangerous drugs on to the market while losing potentially life-saving medications.

Says Ray Greek MD, principal author of the article: “Science has moved forward by 65 years since then, but the laws have not yet caught up with the science.” The result is that regulatory agencies like the FDA continue to mandate the use of a rodent and non-rodent species in order to determine toxicity in humans, when they should instead be mandating 21st century technology in line with “personalized medicine, where drugs are designed to treat patients based on their genetic makeup.

Greek adds: “We see the potential here for a win-win situation for all concerned. Replacing animal tests with modern technology will mean fewer adverse drug reactions for patients and increased consumer confidence in the pharmaceutical industry. Right now, adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death, after heart attacks, cancer and stroke. That just shouldn’t  happen.”

Ray Greek MD, Annalea Pippus JD and Larry Hansen MD have published their article The Nuremberg Code subverts human health and safety by requiring animal modeling  in the journal BMC Medical Ethics.

Ray Greek is available for interviews. Please contact him at the following email: AFMA@AFMA-curedisease.org.

André Ménache
Mob: (0790) 644-6889