As Margriet Mantingh gazes at flowers stretching as far as the eye can see at the world's biggest flower market near Amsterdam, all she sees is a huge bouquet of pesticides.

Known globally for tulips, the Dutch are world leaders in the international flower sector, which is coming under increasing scrutiny for pesticides sprayed on the fields.

This global leadership role makes it all the more important for the Dutch to show the way in the face of mounting criticism of the industry, said Mantingh, president of the PAN-NL anti-pesticide group.

Her organisation recently published a study showing most bouquets bought at a florist, supermarket, or online, are stuffed full of pesticides.

She said the flowers were sprayed with a toxic cocktail that can cause cancer, affect hormones, and decrease fertility.

"We examined 13 bouquets and found 71 different pesticides, one third of which were banned substances" in the European Union, the 78-year-old retiree told AFP.

The flowers........

© International Business Times