CropLife International[1] put on the Internet some pages based on the work of Andrew Maynard, who directs the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health (USA).
Read « Meet the Risk and Hazard Guru »
Watch 5 videos of graphical explanations, including the funny “Risk Song”.
At last,more concrete for ForumPhyto readers, CropLife also publishes a poster which shows concrete actions for mitigating the risk in the cas of Plant Protection Products. Look at Risk Mitigation. It describes actions which are put in place by regulators and PPP manufacturers.
It would be useful to add actions which are implemented by the growers themselves: agronomic and preventive actions, use of complementary (or “alternate”) means, sprayers adjusting and maintenance, appropriate filling facilities,..
In short: Yes, Pesticides are dangerous
But:
1) Even if they are not asilver bullet, they are useful for Crop Protection.
2) The real risks can be dramatically reduced by appropriate actions
To go further : “Clairement distinguer danger et risque. « Risque = Danger x Exposition »” (in French), including this article from David Zaruk (in English).
[1] International Association of plant product manufacturers