Families Suffering From Pesticides Demand Better Health Protection, Not Deregulation
04 July 2026, EU: Today in Brussels, parents of children harmed by pesticide exposure, joined by a former Dutch politician who was himself affected by childhood pesticide exposure gathered to share their story and urge EU lawmakers: put public health first and reject any attempt to weaken Europe’s protections from pesticides.
Their powerful testimonies come at a crucial time: European governments struggle to agree on a toxic policy package that would scrap essential pesticide safety rules (the so-called Food and Feed Safety Omnibus), and parliamentarians prepare their own fight on the file.
The European Commission’s Food and Feed Omnibus proposes a dangerous shift in pesticide regulation, made even worse by the leaked draft of the European Parliament’s report (Dorfmann-Picaro): moving towards lifetime pesticide approvals, reducing safety assessments, and sidelining independent science. While it’s easy to fall into the politics and negotiations around the file, it is essential to recentre the debate on the real human impacts of such a proposal.
Florence Jamault, mother of a child victim of pesticide exposure, and now an organic farmer: “Today, we know that alternatives exist and that they work. It is difficult, but less difficult than what all our sick children go through. The decisions politicians make are not just technical decisions. They concern children, they concern families, they concern farmers, and the trust citizens place in European institutions.”
Isabelle Marchand, French mother whose life completely changed in 2019 when her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia: “’In 2023, the cancer came back and we had to start again: hospital, therapy… She is still fighting, but at what price? As parents, we fight to protect our families, but we need to ask why authorities are not protecting people and why they don’t apply the precautionary principle… Behind the numbers there are lives.”
Franck Rinchet-Girollet, father of a child who suffered from paediatric cancer and is now in remission, spokesperson for the association Avenir Santé Environnement: “My son had cancer when he was two. We live in an area of intensive agriculture where many children have cancer. Economic interests take priority over public interests. I am angry to see that health in France and Europe does not take precedence over economic interests.”
Rendert Algra, Dutch farmer’s son and former CDA (Christen-Democratisch Appèl – EPP) politician, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease: “For the first 17 years of my life, I grew up in paradise, where nothing seemed wrong… I used to run the tractor for my family and I personally did the spraying for several years. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s four years ago, which I’m certain is connected with my exposure to pesticides.”
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