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ISIS Report 18/01/12
Pesticide Illnesses and GM Soybeans
Ban on Aerial Spraying Demanded in Argentina
Coalition of doctors, health professionals and researchers demand
ban on aerial spraying based on evidence documenting increase in pesticide-related
illnesses since the introduction of GM soya Dr Eva Sirinathsinghji
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A network
of 160 physicians, health workers and researchers in Argentina are demanding a ban on aerial spraying of pesticides based
on increases in cancer and a range of pesticide-related illnesses since the
introduction of genetically modified (GM) soybeans. These illnesses affect
development, reproduction, the skin, as well as the immune, respiratory,
neurological, and endocrine systems.
The network met in August 2010 [1] and again in
2011[2]. Following the 2010 meeting an important report was compiled linking agrochemical
exposure to significant increase in illnesses including birth defects and cancers
in and around areas where agrochemicals are used. Increasing illness parallels
the introduction and spread of GM soybeans tolerant to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based
herbicide, Roundup.
The striking link between illness and pesticide use presented at the first
meeting led the Network Of Physicians Of Drop-Sprayed
Towns to propose a complete ban on all aerial sprayings of pesticides, a
complete ban of pesticides of toxicological types Ia (defined as extremely
hazardous) and Ib (highly hazardous), and a ban on other
pesticide use within 1 kilometre of residential areas. They also questioned
the current agro-industrial and transgenic production model, stating that other
options for agro-ecological production should be promoted and developed by the State University.
The second meeting called on local and national government
to ensure people’s right to good health instead of the rights of agribusiness
and private proprietors that currently prevail, and repeated their call for a
complete ban on aerial spraying.
The Argentinean communities’ fight for judicial, healthcare
and governmental recognition for health problems associated with pesticide use goes back 10 years.
A summary compiled by non-governmental organisations
and community residents is contained in the ‘Declaration of Caroya’. It
documents [3] the “reduction in the average age and height” of residents
in crop-sprayed towns “due to malnutrition”, and “decrease of the
body’s natural defences.” In addition, “birth defects, mutagenesis,
miscarriages, depression and suicide, disorders of the central
nervous system and other neurological pathologies; disabilities, spina
bifida, lupus, leukemia and other types of cancers; chloracne and other
skin problems; asthma, allergies, and other respiratory and
lung-related problems; male sterility and impotence; hormonal disruption
and other hormonal disorders; diminished childhood development;
prolonged febrile syndrome without focus; children’s increased
vulnerability to pollutants; anemia, multiple sclerosis, cerebral ischemia,
death..”
Alarming increases in birth defects, cancers, and other illnesses
Public
health officials have ignored ‘alarming notes coming from healthcare officials’ and consequently, very few epidemiological
studies have been conducted. However the physicians (most of whom have been
serving the same populations for over 25 years) have striking observational
data that correlated with presentations and stories from people in the
communities for a range of diseases associated with agrochemical exposure. They
highlighted a systematic link between the unusual observations of recent years
with this exposure.
The province of Chaco, where Dr Maria del Carmen Serveso heads a
hospital intensive care unit, presented a devastating
overview of rising illnesses in many towns. The illnesses include renal
failure, birth defects in children of young mothers, cancers even in very young
people, miscarriages, difficulty in becoming pregnant, respiratory problems and
acute allergies; all linked by health teams to chemical contamination from
agroindustrial farming recently imposed on the area replacing small-scale
cotton farming and native forests. Respiratory illnesses were found to
correlate with paraquat exposure.
One of the few epidemiological studies performed by Dr
Gladys Trombotto, a geneticist from the University of Cordoba Maternity and
Neonatal Unit, assessed 110 000 births over 10 years, and found a 2- and 3-fold
increase in congenital and musculoskeletal defects respectively between 1971 and
2003 [4].
Child cancer data presented by Dr Otaño backed up what other
physicians found in their own observations –
incidence of birth defect rates increased significantly. He recorded 15.7
cases/100 000 in 2007 compared with the pre-existent level of 10.5 cases/100 000
in 1985.
The strong correlation of pesticide exposure with incidence
of illness was exemplified by the observation made in 2005 by members of the Córdoba's
Ituzaingó neighbourhood, showing a higher rate of cancer in residents
living closer to the fields that are sprayed.
The doctors suspect that the scale of damage
to human health caused by agrochemicals is not fully recognised. The numbers
of miscarriages may be higher than recorded levels, and other neurological and
psychological problems are not currently being assessed. Preliminary and
small-scale tests of children under a year of age suggest the existence of such
illnesses in agrochemical use zones.
Epidemiological studies conducted outside Argentina
Studies conducted in other countries were also discussed at the
meeting. A study performed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US found a 5-fold increase in congenital birth defects when mothers, who lived near wheat
crops treated with 2,4-D became pregnant [5]. Another study, found a link
between atrazine application and birth defects [6]. 9 out of 11 studies
showed a positive association between exposure to pesticides and miscarriage, foetal
death, stillbirth, and neonatal death; and identified critical
windows of exposure associated with early or late abortions.
Scientific
research correlates with clinical testimonies
Assays on DNA damage, an underlying cause of cancer, were done on
blood samples of residents of Río de los Sauces, Saira, Gigena, Marcos Juárez
and Las Vertientes, an area where 19 % of women reported at least one
spontaneous abortion [7]. They found significant increase in DNA damage in
agrochemical communities. The most common pesticides used are glyphosate,
cypermethrin, 2,4-D, endosulphan, atrazine and Chlorpyrifos.
Data from studies linking glyphosate to birth defects in
frog and chick embryos raised concerns about similar clinical outcome in
children of exposed parents, as attested to by the doctors at the conference. (For
details of
this research study and others, see [8] Lab Study Establishes Glyphosate Link to Birth Defects, SiS 48 and [9]
EU Regulators and Monsanto Exposed for Hiding
Glyphosate Toxicity, SiS 51.)
Extensive
and ever increasing pesticide use and aerial spraying in Argentina
The
geographers at University of Cordoba, Argentina estimate
that 12 million people in Argentina are directly exposed to glyphosate alone,
and this figure does not include the population from large cities in the
sprayed areas. Pesticide use has reportedly gone up from 35 million litres in
1990 to 285 million in 2009, due largely to the huge increases in GM soybean
farming covering approximately 22 million hectares over many regions of the
country. Along with an increase in area cultivated with GM soybean is an
increase in the amount of glyphosate sprayed on crops. Glyphosate spraying went
from less than 2 litres per hectare in 1996 to 20 litres per hectare in 2010,
most likely due to the development of resistance to the herbicide.
Other countries in South America are also employing
extensive aerial spraying of pesticides. Paraguay was in the news recently for
pesticide spraying that resulted in the instant death of 50 fully grown cows,
as well as snakes, fish, and various bird species. All water treatment plants
are thought to be contaminated [10].
To conclude
Over 12 million people in Argentina are currently exposed to
agrochemicals, with cancers, birth defects and other serious illnesses on the
rise. Doctors have compiled comprehensive evidence linking these illnesses to
pesticides,
calling on their government to ban all aerial sprays until their safety can be
adequately proven.
In view of the devastation effects of glyphosate and
glyphosate tolerant crops on soils, crops, and livestock documented in the
United States [11] (see USDA Scientist
Reveals All - Glyphosate Hazards to Crops, Soils, Animals, and Consumers, SiS 53), an outright
ban on the herbicide is fully justified, and long overdue [12] (Ban Glyphosate
Herbicides Now, SiS 43).
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