Jeffrey M. Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
 The Bt levels are therefore much higher for consumers. farm workers exposed to corn dust and workers in mills and other processing plants would conceivably have an even greater risk
The Bt protein in crops is more toxic
Bt sprays contain bacterial spores and the B/-toxin protein—primarily in an inactive crystalline form (protoxin). The shape of the inactive protoxin does not necessarily alert the immune system that a toxin is present. Once inside the alkaline gut of an insect, the crystalline form becomes soluble and enzymes cut off a portion of the protein. |
David Steinman
See book keywords and concepts |
 Caught at the bottom rung of the ladder of opportunity, however, are the farm workers, who share little of the wealth and receive more than their share of the poison.
So many goods tilings that have fueled modern living come from this valley. "It has been called 'the world's richest agricultural valley,' a technological miracle of productivity where dog-eat-dog competition is at its keenest," says UC Berkeley geographer James J. Parsons.4
In 2001, California's agricultural revenues were $27 billion, which means the growers can afford a powerful lobby in the state legislature. |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| PESTICIDE EXPOSURE AND CHILDREN OF FARM WORKERS
In the United States, the agricultural work force comprises an estimated 2 million hired farm workers and another 3 million farm owners. They labor under some of the worst working conditions in this country (see Chapter 21, "The Workplace"). One of the dangers faced by farm workers is exposure to pesticides; because the children of farm workers and farm owners either live adjacent to pesticide-laden fields or work in their fields alongside their parents, they, too, face risks from pesticides. |
David Steinman
See book keywords and concepts |
| Blount low-income housing where farm workers lived. Weedpatch was west of the field. The farm labor camp was south of the field. The next cross street was Sunset. Ignacio immediately felt sick and called 911. Even though he was sick, he went around the neighborhood with his camcorder asking people how they were feeling. Everyone said their eyes were burning, and they were coughing. Some fifty townspeople appeared on his video, all with the same symptoms. The firemen arrived and asked the people what was growing in the fields. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
| In one study, two farm workers exposed to Z?/-toxins by inhalation, skin contact, and possibly ingestion had "indicators" of allergenicity. (Protein extracts of Bt pesticides containing Cryl Ab and Cryl Ac elicited positive skin tests and IgE antibody responses.) Although the workers did not have allergic reactions, they were tested after only one to four months. "Clinical symptoms would not be anticipated unless there was repeated long-term exposure."32 In addition, the "healthy worker effect" might have biased the results, i.e., workers who were allergic to Bt may have already quit. |
| Indian farm workers exposed to Bt cotton developed moderate or severe allergic reactions22 (section 1.5).
• And large numbers of sheep suffered illness and death when grazing on post-harvest Bt cotton plants23 (section 1.6).
The consistency between the reactions related to Bt sprays and those reported by Bt cotton workers is astounding. The Bt spray was associated with sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, skin inflammation and irritation, rashes, itching and burning, swelling, red skin and red eyes, exacerbations of asthma, facial swelling, and fever. Some people required hospitalization. |
| Farm workers also exhibited antibody responses to Bt spray18 (section 3.3).
• J?/-toxin fed to mice induced a significant immune response and an increased reactivity to other substances (section 3.3).
• Male rats fed MON 863 Bt corn had a significant increase in three types of blood cells related to the immune system: basophils, lymphocytes (22%), and total white cell counts (20%)19 (section 1.3). |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| However, children of farm workers are often exposed to pesticides on a daily basis and therefore are at great risk of developing both acute and chronic health problems as a result of pesticide exposure.
Box 12.4 PESTICIDE EXPOSURE AND CHILDREN OF FARM WORKERS
In the United States, the agricultural work force comprises an estimated 2 million hired farm workers and another 3 million farm owners. They labor under some of the worst working conditions in this country (see Chapter 21, "The Workplace"). |
Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Both of these inputs are costly, ecologically devastating, and damaging to the health of farm workers. The aggressive use of monoculture production destroyed the diversity of local ecologies, affected traditional crop varieties, and led to permanent loss of crop diversity. Because the need for increased irrigation used groundwater supplies faster than they were replenished, a soil erosion problem developed. Then, after a few years, those "disease-resistant" crops began to become infected. |
Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Horses began to walk stiff-legged and some cows became so sick they could graze only by crawling on their bellies. farm workers who ate the crops became sick as well, and many vomited continually for up to two days after eating the produce.
Not unlike most disasters involving the government, a massive cover-up ensued. Eventually, the Pentagon intervened directly and engineered a whitewash of the disaster that included token pay-offs to the injured farmers who had filed suit against the government in 1946 once the war ended. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
 Thus, farm workers exposed to corn dust, for example, may breathe in up to 1,000 times the amount of Bt as those in the study. Those who work in mills and other processing plants would conceivably have an even greater risk.
"As part of the study," Hansen told the EPA, "the scientists were able to show that two of the farm workers studied had a positive skin-prick test." He pointed out that since these tests were now available to detect potential allergenicity of Bt crops, they should be immediately used to test people with high-level exposure to Bt proteins in both sprays and crops. |
Michele Simon
See book keywords and concepts |
 Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Based in southern Florida, this dedicated group of immigrant farm workers is organizing successful campaigns against fast-food giants such as Taco Bell and McDonald's for improved living conditions. www.ciw-online.org
Food Policy Blog
Maintained by Parke Wilde, a food economist at Tufts University, who expertly reveals the politics behind the policymaking. www.usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com
The Food Project
Youth-focused programs that focus on sustainable agriculture in Massachusetts. www.thefoodproject. |
Carlo Petrini
See book keywords and concepts |
 For the fruit of this work—which employs many young farm workers with great ideas for the future—is either sold through a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture, see pp. 173-174) to seventy member families or at farmers' markets in nearby towns. Most of the produce, however, goes to the two restaurants affiliated with the farm, both called Blue Hill: one is on the farm itself and the other in Manhattan. In total, the two Blue Hills serve 1,500 meals a day, always using fresh produce which can be reliably traced to its source, and prepared under the guidance of the talented young chef Dan Barber. |
| This association between farm, restaurant, the public, and young farm workers, with its focus on sustainability and quality, is an extremely modern production model, which is profitable and completely multifunctional. It shows that this approach can work, and there is a real alternative to traditional agribusiness on an industrial scale, with its unsustainable model of selling and distributing food. |
Doris J. Rapp, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 The EPA estimated that 300,000 farm workers have injuries and illnesses caused by pesticides each year.7 They typically allow their children to help so they are similarly exposed.
• The National Cancer Institute has repeatedly found the farmers have higher than average risks for several types of cancer affecting the blood (leukemia), brain and stomach.7 In general, they had a six times greater risk than non-farmers in developing cancer. Organic farming eliminated that risk. |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| One of the dangers faced by farm workers is exposure to pesticides; because the children of farm workers and farm owners either live adjacent to pesticide-laden fields or work in their fields alongside their parents, they, too, face risks from pesticides.
Pesticides must be registered with the EPA before being used in the United States. However, pesticide products can contain so-called inert substances that do not require registration or even testing for health effects. In some cases, the inert ingredients are more toxic than the pesticide itself. |
Tanya Harter Pierce
See book keywords and concepts |
 This article also reported that the overall incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had increased in farm workers by 75 percent over the previous 20 years and that some statisticians have now linked heavy wheat growing regions of the United States (which are notable for their use of 2,4-D) to higher incidences of cancers of the esophagus, stomach, rectum, throat, pancreas, larynx, prostate, kidney, and brain. |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| One of the dangers faced by farm workers is exposure to pesticides; because the children of farm workers and farm owners either live adjacent to pesticide-laden fields or work in their fields alongside their parents, they, too, face risks from pesticides.
Pesticides must be registered with the EPA before being used in the United States. However, pesticide products can contain so-called inert substances that do not require registration or even testing for health effects. In some cases, the inert ingredients are more toxic than the pesticide itself. |
Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson
See book keywords and concepts |
 In the Indian subcontinent, large quantities of betel nuts (Areca catechu, Palmae) are consumed by farm workers for their stimulant properties and to alleviate fatigue. The nuts are red (due to the presence of tannins), which causes staining of the teeth. These nuts are addictive, the active stimulant component being the piperidine alkaloid arecoline. Like nicotine, arecoline binds to the nicotinic receptors and has a stimulant effect on the CNS.
Lobeline is found in the leaves and tops of Lobelia inflata, which is also known as wild tobacco or puke-weed. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
| As part of the study," Hansen told the EPA, "the scientists were able to show that two of the farm workers studied had a positive skin-prick test." He pointed out that since these tests were now available to detect potential allergenicity of Bt crops, they should be immediately used to test people with high-level exposure to Bt proteins in both sprays and crops. The skin prick test didn't take long, was "relatively inexpensive," and "far more accurate than the . . . criteria presendy being used" to evaluate allergenicity. |
| In testimony before the EPA on October 20, 2000, Hansen described an EPA-funded study published in 1999 confirming that farm workers exposed to Bt insecticide sprays exhibited skin sensitization and the presence of IgE and IgG antibodies, both considered components of an allergic response. The workers with a greater reaction were those with more exposure to the spray—another allergy signal.34
While the workers did not exhibit respiratory symptoms, Hansen pointed out that the period of exposure was relatively short, and the amount of Bt that they were exposed to from the spray was quite small. |
Earth RightH. Patricia Hynes
See book keywords and concepts |
| Groundwater contamination in agricultural areas is common. farm workers in California, where pesticides are used more intensively than anywhere in the world, have the highest rate of occupational illness. And pesticide residues contaminate the food supply.
INSECT RESISTANCE_
With the intensive application of pesticides since World War II, the number of insect species resistant to chemicals began a meteoric rise. |
| Finally, the United farm workers movement has kept the issues of farm worker safety in the fields and food safety in the grocery store on the bargaining table for thirty years. All of the more recent agricultural activism is undergirded by the most important chronicle of the environment in twentieth-century United States, Silent Spring, a book that indicted pesticides as a chemical assault on nature.
Because the path of solutions is well laid out before us, let us move onto it and consider the actions we can take.
RESOURCES
Guides to Action/Information
Americans for Safe Food 1501 16th St. |
| Box 22579
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 731-6569
"Wrath of Grapes" Boycott Information and Support United farm workers of America, AFL-CIO La Paz
Keene, CA 93570 (805) 822-5571
Reading/Information
The New Farm, Organic Gardening, and Prevention magazines
Rodale Press and Research Center
33 E. Minor St.
Emmaus, PA 18098
(215)967-5171
Offer a wealth of information on alternative agriculture.
Solid Waste: Treasure in Trash
Recycling is better than disposal, reuse is better than recycling, but reduction is the best of all.
Donella H. |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Because moist conditions are necessary for the growth of this organism, farm workers can prevent the disease by drying and then storing the offending substance, forexample, hay. (See Profile of a High-Risk Occupation: Agriculture, p. 708.)
A worker may be in contact with the offending substance for a period of months or years and then develop immunological reaction and damage to the lungs.
\
Box 6.7 PREVENTING OFFICE HUMIDIFIER DISEASE
To prevent outbreaks of "office humidifier disease" (see Box 14.7, p. |
Earth RightH. Patricia Hynes
See book keywords and concepts |
| In California, the only state that mandates physicians to report occupationally related pesticide illness, farm workers have the highest illness and injury rate of any workers. Even so, environmental health workers acknowledge that pesticide-related illness is severely underreported. Most medical personnel are not trained to recognize illness and injury due to pesticide exposure. Environmental physicians estimate that 300,000 cases of farm worker poisoning from pesticides occur annually in the United States. |
Gina Kolata
See book keywords and concepts |
 Since the virus had been on chicken farms, it was possible that farm workers had been infected. The telltale footprints of a past viral infection are in the blood; antibodies are formed as the immune system staves off the viral attack. That meant that the group had to start checking people's antibodies.
"We collected several hundred blood samples," Fukuda said. They found four infections with an H5N1 virus, all from groups of people who were likely to have been infected: a lab worker, a worker on a poultry farm, a child in the boy's preschool class, and a parent of a different schoolmate. |
Earth RightH. Patricia Hynes
See book keywords and concepts |
| Many pesticides are so acutely dangerous that they carry detailed precautions for farm workers, gardeners, and any other users about exposure. Since 1962, when Rachel Carson documented the pollution of ecosystems from pesticides and warned about the consequences for drinking water aquifers of pesticide-intensive agriculture and silviculture, pesticide use has increased fivefold in the United States. Forty-five years of substantial pesticide use in the United States has made Carson's prediction of contaminated drinking water supplies come true. |
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Lisa Y. Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland
See book keywords and concepts |
| But since organic wines are produced without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, they are certainly kinder to the environment and farm workers. Brewers dropped the use of sulfite preservatives rather than having to list them on their beer labels.
Beer, wine, and liquor companies spend more than $2 billion each year advertising and promoting alcoholic beverages. Slick advertising associates alcohol with health, good times and friends, celebrations, and personal success. In a 1988 CSPI survey of 180 children 7 to 12 years old, the average child could name more alcoholic beverages than U.S. |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Toxic gases can overwhelm and kill unsuspecting farm workers. Manure-holding tanks or pits inside livestock containment buildings can accumulate fatal concentrations of gases such as methane or hydrogen sulfide. Freshly filled silos can fill with nitrogen oxide, which, when inhaled, can cause the severe disorder silo filler's disease, characterized by a difficulty in breathing several hours after entering a silo. If not treated, the condition can prove fatal. |
Email this page to a friend
