412 Where There Is No Doctor 2011
POISONING FROM PESTICIDES
Pesticides are chemical poisons used to kill certain plants (herbicides), fungus
(fungicides), insects (insecticides) or other animals (for example, rat poison). In
recent years, the increasing misuse of pesticides has become a big problem in many
developing countries. These dangerous chemicals can cause severe health problems.
They can also damage the ‘balance of nature’, which in time can lead to smaller
harvests.
Many pesticides are extremely dangerous. Villagers often use
them without knowing their risks, or how to protect themselves while
using them. As a result, many persons become very ill, blind, sterile,
paralyzed, or their children may have birth defects. Also, working with
these chemicals, or eating foods sprayed with them,
sometimes causes cancer.
Chemicals used to kill insects and weeds at first allow
farmers who can afford them to produce more crops. But today,
pesticide-treated crops often produce smaller harvests than
crops produced without pesticides. This happens because
pesticides also kill the ‘good’ birds and insects that provide a
natural control of pests and are beneficial to the soil. Also, as
the insects and weeds become resistant, greater quantities
and more poisonous kinds of pesticides are needed. So, once
farmers begin to use these chemical poisons, they become
dependent on them.
Pesticides also kill
the beneficial
animals—such as
bees and earthworms.
As farmers’ dependency on chemical pesticides and fertilizers goes up, so does
the cost. When the smaller, poorer farmers can no longer afford them, they are forced
off the land. As the land becomes owned by a few ‘giant’ farmers, and more and more
people become landless, the number of malnourished and hungry people increases.
The risk of pesticide poisoning is high for these landless, poorly paid farm workers
and their families. Many live in open shacks at the edge of fields that are sprayed
with pesticides. The poison can easily get into their homes or water supply. This is
especially dangerous for small children, who can be seriously harmed by even small
amounts of these poisons. Farmers who use backpack sprayers, which often leak, are
also at high risk. See A Community Guide to Environmental Health, Chapter 14, for
more information.
Landless farm workers and
their families, who live in
shacks at the edge of the
big farms, often suffer from
pesticide poisoning.