How much of a problem is the cocktail effect in the UK?

The cocktail effect is a significant problem in the UK which demands urgent attention. Over a third of all the fruit and vegetables tested by the UK government in 2017 and 2018 contained residues of more than one pesticide. Pesticide cocktails are not only found in fruit and vegetables. In both 2017 and 2018, roughly a quarter of all food items tested by the government (which include animal products and grains) contained pesticides cocktails. In 2017, this included more than half of rice and a quarter of bread.

The evidence of pesticide cocktails in the environment is no less concerning. One UK study on bumblebees found that 43% had detectable levels of more than one pesticide, with traces of seven pesticides found in one individual. A study of soil in European countries found that 67% of the UK samples had multiple residues, 25% had more than six, with around 4% continuing traces of more than ten pesticides. UK water appears to be no less contaminated. Research reveals that 66% of samples taken from seven river catchments contained over ten pesticides.