Paris (AFP) – French health experts and patient associations on Tuesday urged authorities to protect the public from a bee-killing pesticide, saying the chemical could also harm children and adults.

The legislation to reintroduce in France acetamiprid, a pesticide that is harmful to ecosystems but popular with many farmers in Europe, was adopted on July 8, but without a proper debate to bypass gridlock in a divided parliament.

The move sparked anger in France, and support for a student-initiated petition against the legislation has snowballed, with university lecturers, left-wing lawmakers and star chefs backing it.

The petition had garnered more than 2 million signatures by Tuesday.

Health experts and patient associations have now weighed in, saying in an open letter in French daily Le Monde that they cannot back "a law that is dangerous to the health of our fellow citizens".

President Emmanuel Macron, who has been under increasing pressure to act, said he is waiting to hear the verdict of the Constitutional Council, which is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the law on August 7.

The health experts and patient associations urged the Constitutional Council to reject the legislation, calling on its members to "respond to the democratic demand strongly expressed by French citizens".

The signatories included Agnes Linglart, president of the French Paediatric Society, Olivier Coutard, president of the scientific council of France's flagship scientific research centre CNRS and Gerard Socie, president of the scientific council of the National Cancer Institute.

The Constitutional Council, the letter said, must protect future generations from the legislation that "without a shadow of reasonable doubt compromises the health of young people, children and the unborn".

The letter said the Senate committee preparing the bill heard from agricultural unions and government agencies but not "doctors, toxicologists or epidemiologists".

The senators did not consult representatives of the CNRS, health and labour ministries, even though occupational exposure to pesticides is a risk factor for humans, the letter said.

Citing the INSERM health and medical research organisation, the letter pointed to evidence of a link between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of cancers, neurodegenerative, pulmonary and hormone-related disorders.

Banned in France since 2018, the chemical remains legal in the European Union.