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Biocides are those products whose objective is to destroy or alter living organisms considered harmful for a specific purpose. It could be said that currently, biocides are present in every aspect of our lives.

They are divided into 22 types of products and are classified between:

– Disinfectants.

– Preservatives.

– Pesticides.

– Other biocides.

At the beginning the purpose of these substances was to protect against organisms that could harm human beings’ health. Once again, the irresponsible,incorrect, interested and indiscriminate use of these substances, has turned them into one of the biggest health problems in the world.

Currently we can find biocides in our houses without even knowing it, as insecticides, disinfectants, fertilizers for plants, products to treat our pets, cosmetics, in foods that contain preservatives and/or food additives, that have been treated with these chemicals and that persist in our body once ingested. They are present, for example, in the hospitals used for the disinfection and sterilization of medical tools. In the feed that contaminates the meat that we are finally going to eat.

Biocides as a whole are of such enormous magnitude that we cannot cover them on these pages. However, for the purposes that I intend to explain in this book, we must understand that the regulation is confused, lax and permissive, increasing the amounts of active substances allowed to be used for the manufacture of the goods, that we can find in the shops and then end up in the houses or in the food of all the citizens.

The use of fertilizers, pesticides or pesticides in agricultural sectors is widely extended and standardized worldwide. It cannot be a coincidence that in both New Zealand and Australia, countries surrounded by crops, forests and mountains with the lowest levels of pollution in the world, 1 over 3 people die of cancer, as well as there is an high rates of obesity and type II diabetes.

Only in 2017 in New Zealand, were registered 24,453 cases of cancer, of which a total of 8,891 patients did not recover from it. The majority of the cases were related to the reproductive systems, ovary and breast in women, prostate and colon in men.

Statistics are growing annually, coinciding with the increase in the number of hormonal-altering chemicals in the markets, and despite the efforts in medicine to cure cancer, decrease obesity or diabetes, numbers continue to increase60.

Extensive information on biocides is available on websites such as PAN (Pesticide Action Network). The United Nations as well as the World Health Organization delve into the effects of biocides in the human and natural ecosystem, you can also consult the EPA, or as we have previously listed the different Regulations and Directives issued by the European Union.

Even the bibliography is extensive and the research is exhausting, once again, the responsibility will fall on the community, on the consumer, since the Regulatory Implosion does not guarantee protection for citizens.