Features
Keep Away from Paraquat
For many reasons I'm glad I'm not a woman living in Malaysia. I might have ended up as one of that country's 30,000 female pesticide sprayers carrying four gallons of weedkiller of pesticide on my back in a knapsack sprayer and spraying for eight hours a day.
Frequently their spraying equipment is faulty and sometimes the chemicals run down the women's back soaking into their skin. Protective clothing is not worn.
One of the common effects of full time employment as a sprayer is the loss of one's toenails. Even more common symptoms include skin burns, dermatitis, reduced lung capacity, miscarriages, kidney failure, convulsions and, when the spray is swallowed, death.
Banning
The weedkiller Paraquat is one of the most common chemicals in their knapsacks. Malaysian plantation workers have struggled for almost 17 years to encourage their government to ban it as being too dangerous. Two years ago they finally succeeded and the use of paraquat is to be phased out by the government. However, the manufacturers are using all their plentiful resources to put pressure on the Malaysian authorities overturn the ban. In contrast the international coalition of NGOs continues to press the Swiss company Syngenta to abandon their production of paraquat.
Paraquat is a contact herbicide and kills annual broad-leaved weeds and grasses by stopping the energy producing cells and rapidly drying out the plant tissue. It does not harm mature bark, and is thus widely used for weed control in banana plantations and fruit orchards. However, Chiquita, one of the world's' largest suppliers of bananas has ceased using paraquat on its plantations.
No antidote
When first marketed, it's dark brown colour led to paraquat products being mistaken for drinks like coffee or cola, particularly when decanted to other containers - a common practice in developing countries. Under the current EU risk classification and labelling, paraquat warnings state it is very toxic by inhalation, toxic in contact with skin and if swallowed, irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin, and can be a serious damage to health. Ingestion of one teaspoon is fatal. There is no antidote, and death generally follows within three weeks.
Since the late 1970s a strong deterrent odour has been added to the formula, as has a substance to induce vomiting should the highly poisonous substance be ingested. It's hard to imagine that what we are talking about here is a substance that is intended to be sprayed on human food crops?
Brand names
In Ireland Paraquat it is sold to farmers under several brand names including Gramoxone, and to amateur gardeners as Pathclear and Weedol. The Dept. of Agriculture has no plans to ban the chemical but its re-registration is currently under review by the EU. Within the EU it is banned in Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Ironically it is also banned in Switzerland which is the home of Syngenta,the multi national company which is the worlds major manufacturer of Paraquat.
What's more, the second largest Swiss supermarket chain, Coop, will only import bananas that are guaranteed to have been produced without the chemical. Furthermore, the Swiss company Volcafé, one of the world's largest coffee traders, has banned Paraquat from all its own plantations. However the manufacturers of Paraquat have managed to compensate for the fact that the chemical is unacceptable to consumers in their own country by increasing sales to third world countries including China.
Amateur gardeners
The US Environment Protection Agency restricts the sale and use of Paraquat to professional certified operators. Workers who mix Paraquat are required to supplement their use of Personal Protective Equipment by wearing gloves, a chemical-resistant apron and face shield. There is no doubt that Irish farmers have been made more alert to the dangers of agrochemicals and the need to wear protective clothing. Yet this is a product that can be bought over the counter by amateur gardeners for use in the family garden?
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