FLORIDA — Communities, farms and schools face serious health risks from exposure to the pesticide methyl bromide, according to a new report by Friends of the Earth.
Reaping Havoc — The True Cost of Using Methyl Bromide on Florida's Tomatoes details the health risks of methyl bromide, as well as its harmful impact on the Earth's ozone layer. It calls on the US Congress to reject proposals to delay the scheduled ban now set for 2001.
The report was written in association with the Florida Consumer Action Network, the Farmworker Association of Florida, Farmworkers' Self-Help and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation. These groups have formed the Sustainable Tomatoes Campaign.
Methyl bromide is a highly toxic pesticide used to kill organisms in soil, agricultural commodities, and in buildings. Scientists estimate that the chemical is responsible for approximately 5% to 10% of worldwide ozone depletion.
Direct exposure to the chemical can cause eye and skin irritation; damage to the central nervous system, kidneys and lungs; and even death. It may also cause birth defects and cancer.
The Sustainable Tomatoes Campaign is pressing for the phasing out of methyl bromide by 2001 and adoption of agricultural practices that are safer for workers, communities and the environment.
The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 13.3 million pounds of methyl bromide were used on Florida crop lands in 1995-96. Approximately 62% of the methyl bromide used for pre-plant fumigation in Florida was used on tomatoes. An estimated 94% of the 40,000 acres of Florida farmland planted with tomatoes was treated with methyl bromide.
The report states that many farm workers have suffered from over-exposure to methyl bromide due to chronically inadequate enforcement of worker protection statutes.
The report also examines land use patterns in several communities and found fumigated fields dangerously close to homes and schools.
Recognising the severe threat that methyl bromide poses to human health and the environment, more than 160 nations have signed an international treaty requiring developed nations to phase out all use of methyl bromide by 2005.
The US Clean Air Act commits the US — the largest user of methyl bromide in the world — to phase out its use by 2001. Powerful agribusiness interests are lobbying Florida state government and Congress to postpone the scheduled phase-out.
[The report is available from Friends of the Earth and on their web page at . Abridged from Pesticide Action Network North America, at .]