SUNS 4288 Friday 25 September 1998



AGRICULTURE: FARM WORKERS URGE PESTICIDE BAN

Washington, Sept. 24 (IPS/Danielle Knight) -- Migrant farm workers and environmental organisations have appealed to the U.S. government to stick to plans to phase-out the highly toxic pesticide methyl bromide, despite opposition from industry groups. Because of health risks and destruction of the ozone layer caused by harmful pesticides, an international treaty - as well as national regulations - require the use of methyl bromide to be phased out early next century.

But agricultural industry groups say eliminating the pesticide will make large commercial farms less competitive globally and put them out of business. They want the government to postpone the scheduled phase-out for up to 15 years.

"Time after time, industry's doomsday scenarios have proved to be greatly exaggerated," declares a combined report released by Friends of the Earth, Farmworker Self- Help Inc., the Legal  environmental Assistance Foundation, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and other organisations.

"Whether from the standpoint of protecting farm workers, communities, consumers or the Earth's atmosphere itself, the only acceptable plan should be to phase out methyl bromide with all deliberate speed," the report says.

The United States is the world's largest user of methyl bromide accounting for 40 percent of global consumption. The odourless gas is used widely in Florida and California to control soil-inhabiting pests on tomatoes and other crops such as strawberries and peppers. Many of the farm workers who come in contact with methyl bromide are from Mexico, Central America, and Haiti.

The coalition of environmentalists and farm workers - who pick tomatoes in the south eastern state of Florida - are urging federal and state officials to remain committed to phasing out the pesticide by 2001, as required by the U.S. Clean Air Act.

"While it leaves little visible residue and does not make tomatoes unsafe to eat, methyl bromide is one of the most toxic pesticides used in U.S. agriculture today," says the report.

Exposure to the pesticide may cause cancer and birth defects, according to the report. Classified as an acute toxin by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, methyl bromide also can cause irritation to the eyes and skin, dizziness, headaches, kidney, lung and heart problems and even death.

"Along with grim working conditions and low wages, farm workers face health risks from direct exposure to methyl bromide when working in the fields, either as the result of mishandling and accidents or when the pesticide drifts after being applied," says the coalition's report.

A recent study in Florida by the Farmworker Justice Fund and the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project found that the federal worker protection standards, designed to help reduce farm workers' risks from exposure to pesticides, had not been enforced. Many farm workers suffered from overexposure to methyl bromide due to chronically inadequate enforcement of worker protection statutes in Florida. The study also found that fields fumigated with methyl bromide were close
to homes and schools. While the farm is required to post the times when pesticides are sprayed, records are not kept up to date, the study charges.

Methyl bromide also has the ability to react and destroy the stratospheric ozone layer, which filters out the sun's harmful ultraviolet-B or UV-B rays. According to scientists, the bromine in methyl bromide is at least 50 times more destructive to the ozone layer that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - which are substances banned from being produced that are used in refrigerators, air conditioners and as an aerosol propellant.

Although bromine has a shorter lifetime than other ozone-depleting chemicals containing chlorine, environmentalists say it should be phased out because of it destroys ozone at such a quick rate and it rises quickly into the atmosphere. Scientists say the pesticide is probably responsible for between five and 10 percent of worldwide ozone depletion.

More than 160 countries who signed the Montreal Protocol, have agreed to a global phase-out schedule of the pesticide. As part of that agreement, industrialised countries will stop using methyl bromide by 2005 at the latest, with developing countries phasing it out by 2015.

U.S. Congressman Dan Miller, a republican of Florida, however, has introduced legislation that would postpone the U.S. elimination of the pesticide until 2015. Miller insists that getting rid of methyl bromide will put large tomato farms in Florida out of business by making them not able to compete globally.

A similar argument was used by CFC users in the mid-1980s who said it would be impossible and expensive to find alternatives to CFCs, says the coalition of farm workers and environmentalists. "A decade later, we are hearing a far different story from the same industry groups," says their report. 'Not only were they able to find effective alternatives for CFCs, but, in many cases, the alternatives are better and cheaper."

The most effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to methyl bromide will involve the integrated pest management (IPM) system that uses a combination of pest control techniques adapted to local farming conditions, says the report.

A non-chemical alternative, Dazitol, made from food ingredients, including chili peppers and mustard, costing about the same as methyl bromide, was also recently approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and has proven effective at controlling pests on tomato plants
on large commercial farms in Florida.