Originally published March 30 2005
The combined use of different pesticides may have unexpected, dangerous effects
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Three children of migrant farm workers were recently born with severe birth defects and many people are wondering why. The mothers of all three children were working in Ag-Mart's fields while pregnant, after several different pesticides were used on the fields. Unfortunately, there has been little testing on the effects of combined pesticide use and almost no understanding of what sort of effects it could have on people.
The long list of chemicals to be used on the crop was tacked to a dusty bulletin board on the edge of a tomato field.
Months later, between Dec. 17 and Feb. 6, all three women gave birth to children with serious birth defects.
The list, which included 38 products, was posted in accord with federal regulations.
But more than 30 of the products contained chemically active ingredients monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Nonetheless, the EPA had tested and approved the chemicals one at a time and found them safe for agricultural purposes, if used properly.
But the chemicals are not used individually in the fields of Florida, or anywhere in U.S. agriculture.
"There has not been much study on that," says Dr. Stuart Brooks, professor in the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida, Tampa.
Joan Flocks of Gainesville, an attorney and former member of the state-sponsored Pesticide Exposure Surveillance Program, agrees.
The EPA itself concedes that study of the topic --- the chemical combinations used in agriculture all over the United States --- is very new.
Shelley Davis of the Farmworker Justice Fund in Washington, who has long been angered by government pesticide policies, puts it bluntly.
If the use of the chemical benefits the grower enough, then risks are taken with the workers."
The company for which the couples worked, Ag-Mart of Plant City --- marketer of Santa Sweets tomatoes --- says it will cooperate.
According to the Florida Department of Health, excessive exposure to pesticides in humans can have immediate effects such as eye and skin irritation, nausea, headache, respiratory failure and loss of consciousness.
At the same time, farmworker advocates say Florida has one of the least effective pesticide monitoring and enforcement programs in the country.
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