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Pesticide exposure causes around 1 million cases of non-intentional severe poisoning among farm workers each year.

Soil health technician and BFA spokesperson, Mr Greg Paynter, says the mixed use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides weaken crops in the long-term when applied in un-tested combinations at the discretion of farmers.

“Excessive reside levels are a problem – but what may be more concerning and is also carried through to the end consumer, are the unknown effects of blends of different types of synthetic farming inputs. The toxic permutation that occurs as a result is unidentified and untested with regards to human or eco-health, because standard practise is to test a chemical product in isolation,” says Mr. Paynter.

Adverse affects on health from low doses of agricultural chemical combinations have been recorded in the past, with a particularly negative response from tested animals in the pairing of Atrazine – a herbicide widely used on maize and sorghum – with nitrate fertilizer.

Mr. Paynter said chemical mixes damage a crop’s ability to respond naturally to growth obstacles, and often lead to changes in plant metabolism, physiology, chemical composition and nutritional patterns.

Children are the other party most susceptible to high toxicity levels from chemical blends, according to BFA Nutritionist Shane Heaton. “Children are more vulnerable to food toxins than adults – they have a larger intake of food per kilo of body weight than adults, and immature organs and detoxification and immune systems,” he says.