Ian McLean Green Scene Spokesperson for the Green Party

The enormous frustration voiced by Tommy Kapai in a letter to The Weekend Sun (March 7) about ‘Are we the Spray of Plenty' is a small voice for what may be a very large elephant in our room.

Ask Mr Google. He will cheerfully give you more references to the effects of pesticides and herbicides on human health than you could ever hope to read.

John Morris of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council responded by noting human health must be balanced against the needs of (the horticultural) industry, a lynchpin of the local economy. He referred also to assurances from the Environmental Protection Agency that the sprays are applied safely.

That is good to hear. We need a healthy economy, and the profitability of horticulture is strongly linked to the use of agrichemicals. It appears the documented increase in risk of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and many others, is acceptable to both the EPA and the BOPRC.

Those increased risks are not acceptable to Tommy, who thinks there must be a better way. While it is true we all benefit from horticulture, we also all suffer the costs. Tommy's call for greater transparency and caution on the use of sprays is timely and urgent.