Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and former rector of the University of Crete, Evripidis Stefanou, called for an “investigation to protect public health” in an interview with Efimerida ton Syntakton following the results of his team’s 15-year “Rea” study. Banned pesticides DDT and DDE were found in the blood of hundreds of children in Heraklion, where the study took place.
The research, which began in 2007 and published its results in 2024, tracked 1,500 mother-child pairs at different stages of child development: during pregnancy, childbirth, the first months of life, and at 18 months, 4, 6, 11, and 15 years old. It is the only study of its kind in Greece.
Although these pesticides have been banned since the 1970s due to their association with health problems like cancer, they still make up over 14% of the pesticides used in many EU countries.
A total of 947 blood samples from children were analyzed, and DDE levels in 6.5-year-olds were higher than those of their peers in other parts of the EU where similar measurements were conducted. The highest levels were found in 4-year-olds and the lowest in 11-year-olds, indicating that children were more exposed to these substances early in life, either as fetuses or through breastfeeding, according to Mr. Stefanou.
These results are consistent with a recent study by the Benaki Phytopathological Institute, published in 2023, which examined 60 agricultural soils across Greece for pesticide residues. Despite being banned, these pesticides were the most frequently detected. Only DDT and its more toxic derivative, DDE, were found in Crete (Tympaki), which supplies most of Heraklion’s fruits and vegetables.
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