| Project Detail |
Farm to Fork strategy aims to reduce hazardous pesticide use by fifty percent by 2030 to help achieve a climate neutral Europe but it is still an open question whether potential benefits of the proposed strategy can outweigh its costs. Therefore, it is crucial to examine if eliminating harmful pesticides can provide significant health improvements and to weigh these health benefits against the potential economic costs of adopting safer but less effective plant protection practices. The projects main objective is to examine the impact of hazardous pesticide bans on early-life health and economic outcomes in Türkiye.
PESTBAN will expand the state-of-the-art knowledge on economics of pesticides in several aspects. First, it will contribute to previous studies on pesticides and health by comparing early-life health outcomes within agricultural areas as they switch from hazardous pesticides to safer alternatives. Second, the project will contribute to existing literature on economics of pesticide bans by monetizing the health gains from harmful pesticide bans and comparing these benefits to economic impact of bans on agricultural production areas. The project has the potential to encourage adoption of stricter regulations on hazardous pesticides by highlighting the health benefits of pesticide bans.
Specific aims of the project include (1) data collection on hazardous pesticide use and established bans in Türkiye, agricultural production and crop prices; acquisition of individual health data from national birth registry and national health surveys; (2) empirical analyses to investigate economic and health effects of pesticide cancellations established between 2005 and 2015; (3) implementation of models from soil and water sciences to evaluate the pollution potential of groundwater sources and to provide insights on whether hazardous pesticides can persist in the environment and continue to threaten the public health in surrounding regions long after the imposed bans. |
