Chlorpyrifos, a commonly used pesticide, may be partly responsible for the global obesity epidemic, warned the NGO PAN Europe (Pesticide Action Network Europe) on Tuesday 31 August, referring to a scientific study published in the journal Nature on 27 August.
Obesity results from a caloric imbalance between energy intake, absorption and expenditure. In rodents and humans, diet-induced thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and involves the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT).
According to this study, chlorpyrifos promotes obesity by inhibiting diet-induced thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue.
“Obesity causes 4.7 million premature deaths each year. Do we want to eat fruits and vegetables sprayed with chlorpyrifos?”, asks the NGO, which campaigns for the sustainable use of pesticides.
Chorpyrifos is banned in the EU. In January 2020, the European Commission decided not to renew the authorisation due to concerns about the developmental neurotoxicity and genotoxicity potential of this pesticide active substance, but two agrochemical companies have appealed this decision (see EUROPE 12503/9).
To read the study: https://go.nature.com/2WG0qm3 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)