Pesticides: A deadly weapon

Source: http://coloradofarmworkers.com/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Legal%20Rights%20of%20Farm%20Workers

I first started researching about harmful chemicals and toxins after learning about Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The U.S. military and government weaponized harmful chemicals, like Agent Orange, to use for mass destruction during the Vietnam War. The U.S. government continues to condone the usage of these harmful chemicals in food production, which puts the laborers (i.e. farmworkers) at risk. The health of farm workers is most affected by handling pesticides and herbicides directly or handling the fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed. Exposure to pesticides is particularly important for women  and women who may become pregnant. Chemicals in the bodies of women end up also in the bodies of fetuses and their newborn babies. Pesticide exposure has been linked to birth defects and is evident in the case of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. 

While working this summer, a co-worker of mine, whose family were migrant workers told me about a horrific experience she had dealing with pesticides. She recalls being in the fields with her family members as they worked. Although she was only a few years old, she remembers distinctly seeing the airplane fly over her, her family and the other workers, covering the fields with harmful chemicals. The next day she awoke crying with both eyes swollen shut. The pesticide exposure had affected her eyes and she was rushed to the hospital. As a grown woman today she told me how lucky she is to have her vision, but also how traumatizing the experience was for her mother and the rest of her family. Listening to her story made me realize how many farm workers out there are exposed to harmful chemicals in the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on crops and what health issues have affected them, including blindness, respiratory and skin problems, and even death.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, chemical exposures of agricultural workers is one of the most significant environmental hazards affecting human health in the U.S and “farmworkers suffer up to 300,000 acute illness and injuries from exposure to pesticides” (EPA, 3). Even more, federal laws and regulations do not ensure that farmworkers are protected. Although companies are required to label the pesticide’s contents, including the active ingredient and warnings about the product, farmworkers do not have access to the label and thus, are not informed about its hazards. They are not always provided the protective care and safety that are needed when handling different pesticides and given adequate field sanitation, such as toilets, clean drinking water and handwashing facilities. These basic sanitation facilities do not have to be provided on small farms where there are 10 or fewer workers with the current regulations. In other words, basic sanitation facilities do not have to be provided where 10 farmworkers are working. The importance of the health and well-being of farmworkers is extremely revealing. 

The following video explains more about pesticides and the experiences of  migrant farm workers in North Carolina, where 62 billion pounds of pesticides are applied each year. Watch here.