Fwd: PANUPS: Farmworkers Sue U.S. EPA for Allowing Dangerous Pesticides

[Guest guest]

These toxic chemicals don't just affect farmworkers even though that should be

enough to discontinue use of them.

 

They get into the food supply. They get into the soil and groundwater. They

collect in the tissue of animals. They wind up in the food and water. And then

they become part of the huge toxic dump that the world is becoming and to the

toxic burden that we all carry. They get into everyone including your family.

And then we get sick.

 

Frank

 

 

PANUPS

 

PANUPS: Farmworkers Sue U.S. EPA for Allowing Dangerous Pesticides

Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:18:50 -0800

 

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Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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Farmworkers Sue U.S. EPA for Allowing Dangerous Pesticides

 

January 26, 2004

 

On January 13, 2004, farmworker groups filed a lawsuit in Seattle, Washington,

charging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with ignoring important health

data in 2001 when it re-approved use of two pesticides extremely hazardous to

farmworkers. The two pesticides, azinphos-methyl (AZM) and phosmet, are highly

toxic organophosphate pesticides, derived from nerve agents developed during

World War II and among the most powerful neurotoxins routinely used in the U.S.

Acute exposure to organophosphates (OPs) can cause dizziness, vomiting,

seizures, paralysis, loss of mental function, and death.

 

AZM and phosmet are used extensively in orchard crops such as apples, peaches

and pears, and are registered for use on 32 food crops. Annually about 60

million pounds of OPs are applied to crops in the U.S. The National Agricultural

Statistics Service (NASS) Agricultural Chemical Database reports 1.5 million

pounds of AZM and phosmet were applied agriculturally in 2001. Although the two

pesticides are used across the nation, Washington, Oregon and California growers

are responsible for approximately half of all AZM and phosmet agricultural use

in the U.S.

 

In addition to occupational exposures to OPs, migrant and seasonal farmworkers

and their families often live where pesticides drift and settle, and are also

exposed through " take-home " exposures on clothing, cars, and skin. Tests of dust

in farmworker homes in Washington reported in Environmental Health Perspectives

found 85% contained AZM residue, and a study published in Environmental Research

found four to five times more chemicals in the bodies of farmworker children and

people living within one quarter-mile of agricultural fields in Washington state

than in the general population.

 

The lawsuit charges U.S. EPA has continued to allow uses of these pesticides

without considering the risks posed to workers, their children, and communities.

" It is outrageous that U.S. EPA authorized the use of these pesticides, putting

thousands of workers at risk of serious illness every year, " said Erik Nicholson

of the United Farmworkers of America (UFW). " These two pesticides can poison so

many farmworkers that EPA found the risks unacceptable, but the agency still

allowed them to be used. "

 

U.S. EPA, while acknowledging that agricultural pesticide poisonings are

severely underreported, has estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000

agricultural workers are sickened each year by pesticides. No national system

exists to track pesticide poisoning incidents, and attorneys report that

officials in California, Oregon and Washington have all expressed concern for

the adequacy of their state reporting systems.

 

A 2003 survey of farmworkers by the Washington Department of Health found 75% of

workers surveyed reported a job-related pesticide exposure. That survey also

noted that workers often do not seek care for symptoms out of fear of employer

reprisals, and a belief that doctors downplay symptoms due to state and employer

pressures. The pesticide AZM is the fourth most frequent pesticide associated

with poisoning complaints in the state of Washington. According to UFW, about

30,000 workers in Washington's apple industry are potentially at risk from

exposure to AZM and phosmet, with thousands more working in pear and cherry

crops also at risk.

 

The lawsuit argues that U.S. EPA analyzed the estimated economic value of using

these two pesticides to farmers but failed to quantify the risks to people and

the environment, discounted the use of safe and proven alternatives to these

dangerous substances, and used industry-generated data without subjecting it to

public comment, even though a federal law allows public input.

 

AZM and phosmet also pose risks to wildlife, can poison fish, beneficial

insects, and contaminate water supplies. USGS data indicate AZM is one of the

pesticides most frequently exceeding levels for aquatic safety in U.S. surface

waters.

 

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Seattle by attorneys with

Earthjustice, Farmworker Justice Fund, California Rural Legal Assistance, and

the Natural Resources Defense Council on behalf of Sea Mar Community Health

Centers, UFW, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Beyond

Pesticides, and Frente Indígena Oaxaqueña Binacional.

 

Sources: Earthjustice Press Release, January 13, 2004, Fact Sheet, Protect

Farmworkers from Pesticide Poisonings,

http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=757; Seattle

Post-Intelligencer, January, 13, 2004; NASS Chemical Database,

http://www.pestmanagement.info; Pesticide Exposure of Children in an

Agricultural Community: Evidence of Household Proximity to Farmland and Take

Home Exposure Pathways, Chensheng Lu, et al, Environmental Research, Nov 2002,

Vol 84 #3, http://www.sciencedirect.com; Evaluation of Take-Home

Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure Among Agricultural Workers and Their

Children, Cynthia Curl, et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, 2002, 110 #12.

 

Contact: Erik Nicholson, UFW, Tacoma, WA; phone (206) 255-5774; Web site

http://www.ufw.org, PANNA.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

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