PANUPS: Pesticide Drift Poisons in Central Valley

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PANUPS: Pesticide Drift Poisons in Central Valley

Fri, 14 May 2004 15:44:18 -0700

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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Pesticide Drift Poisons in Central Valley

May 14, 2004

 

Last week, in two separate incidents, drifting pesticides poisoned bystanders in

California's the Central Valley. Both incidents occurred during the springtime

heavy spraying season, and underscore the dangers of pesticide drift for workers

and surrounding communities.

 

On Tuesday, April 27, 2004, 44 children riding home on a school bus near Fresno

turned a corner and ran into a cloud of pesticides drifting from a nearby grape

field. A number of children and the driver experienced throat and skin

irritation. Eleven of the children were treated in area hospitals.

 

Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Jerry Prieto Jr. said of the chemicals

used on grapes in the area for mites, fungus, and mildew, " though they can cause

eye irritation and can irritate mucus membranes, they have no toxicity to

humans. " Medical professionals, however, consider eye irritation and irritation

of mucus membranes clear indicators of at least mild poisoning by many kinds of

pesticides. The chemicals involved in the poisoning were later identified as

gibberellic acid, a growth enhancer, and liquid sulfur.

 

An official with the Kings Canyon Unified School District said the incident was

" scary " for the children on the bus. The school district, which serves a number

of agricultural towns, has a message to growers on their website; " Please be

alert for our ever moving, large, school bus fleet and children who may be

waiting at school bus stops as you prepare your orchards and vineyards for

agricultural spraying of pesticides and fertilizers. "

 

Days later, on Sunday May 2, nineteen farmworkers harvesting peaches near Arvin

became ill when a wind-shift caused pesticides to drift from a potato field

about half a mile away. Emergency personal reported that when they arrived

several workers were unconscious or semi-conscious, and other affected workers

were being brought in by co-workers. Thirteen workers were transported to

hospitals. United Farmworkers (UFW) reported that three workers remained

hospitalized for several days. In the following days, seventy or more workers

eventually sought medical evaluation as a result of their pesticide exposure. An

investigation by the Kern County Agricultural Commissioner is still underway.

 

The potato field had been sprayed by helicopter with Monitor 4, a pesticide

product containing methamidophos, a highly acutely toxic neurotoxin in the

organophosphate class. The spray mix also contained Penncozeb 75 DM, the active

ingredient of which is mancozeb, a developmental and reproductive toxicant,

endocrine disruptor, and probable carcinogen that is listed as Hazardous Air

Pollutant by the U.S. EPA. As a reproductive toxicant, mancozeb is particularly

dangerous to the developing fetus. UFW has advised that one and possibly two

pregnant women are among those affected.

 

Fields of Poison, a report by PANNA and Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR)

on pesticide related illness lists mancozeb as one of the top 20 chemicals

causing farmworker poisonings. One of the hospitalized workers reported

continued exhaustion, weakness and depression when interviewed by Teresa DeAnda

of CPR days after her release. Still traumatized, the farmworker described

symptoms of intense nausea and headache, and losing consciousness while lying in

the dirt next to the field. She has no memory of her decontamination, in which

firefighters cut away her clothing and sprayed her with a fire hose.

 

Arvin was also the site of a poisoning incident in July of 2002, when 250 people

were sickened by pesticide drift. In January 2004 Western Farm Service, one of

the largest pesticide applicator companies in the western U.S. agreed to pay

fines of $50,000 to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and

$10,000 to the Kern County Agricultural Commissioner for the incident. It is

important to note that fines do not include reimbursement for medical expenses

incurred as a result of the exposure. In the recent Arvin incident, a number of

affected workers refused medical treatment, citing concerns over payment of the

costs.

 

CPR and California Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLA) are working with state

Senator Dean Flores for California legislation to establish a fund for payment

of medical expenses of victims of pesticide drift, as well as programs to train

emergency medical personnel, establish hazard response plans for pesticide drift

incidents, and develop an online posting system for applications of drift prone

pesticides in counties of heavy pesticide use.

 

UFW has an alert and a petition to state officials on their web site about the

Arvin incident and Monitor 4, a pesticide they have been concerned about for

nearly 20 years. Visit the UFW website to sign the petition at:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/monitor.

 

Sources: 11 Children on School Bus Exposed to Ag Spray, April 28, 2004, The

Fresno Bee; 19 Workers Treated for Pesticide Exposure, May 2, 2004, Kings Canyon

Unified School District web site, http://www.kc-usd.k12.ca.us/distinfo/;

Bakersfield Californian; Fields of Poison, PANNA, CPR, CRLA, 2002,

http://www.panna.org.

 

Contact: 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

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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