Melon Probe Sparks Clash on Pesticide : Farmers Claim Firm Mislabeled Chemical Tied to Tainted Fruit

Angry farmers Saturday blamed the Union Carbide Co. for improperly labeling a pesticide that health officials say tainted watermelons and may have caused as many as 270 Californians to become ill.

Farmers said labeling on the pesticide aldicarb states that the insect killer will leave the soil within 100 days, yet traces were found in fields as late as six years after the last application.

“What happens to us when all this blows over? I feel slandered in a way,” complained Kern County farmer Don Icardo, who said he stands to lose between $10,000 and $15,000 if the state orders him to plow under his small acreage of watermelons. “Union Carbide will just deny it or take their product off the market and we’ll be left holding the bag.”

Four Areas Cited

Icardo was one of four Kern County farmers whose fields were named by state health officials as the source of watermelons blamed for the sickness.

Traces of aldicarb, manufactured by Union Carbide under the brand name Temik, were found by state inspectors in Icardo’s fields, although the farmer said he last used Temik when he was growing cotton in the same field four years ago.

A residue of aldicarb also showed up in watermelon fields owned by Reynold Mettler, who claimed he last applied the pesticide six years ago, also to a crop of cotton. “When a chemical company’s label booms back at you like this it’s pretty discouraging,” Mettler said.

Aldicarb is banned for use on watermelon fields, but is approved for use on several other crops, including cotton.

Union Carbide, in a telephone interview Saturday, denied any responsibility for the contamination. And one state official said she doubts that aldicarb could remain in soil more than a year.

Company Sees Misuse

Mary Ann Ford, a spokeswoman for Union Carbide’s agricultural products division near Raleigh, N.C., said it “cannot be supported by science” that aldicarb could stay in the soil four or five years. “All indications point to a clear case of misuse,” Ford said.

And according to Lori Johnson, assistant director of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, “it is unlikely that the residues would persist” even from one growing season to the next.

As the charges and countercharges flew between farmers and Union Carbide, state health officials Saturday identified 70 probable cases of illness and 200 additional “possible” instances among Californians who had eaten the contaminated watermelon.

State Department of Health spokesman William Ihle said about 2,500 calls have come in from 23 counties into regional poison centers from people complaining of several flu-like symptoms, including diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, muscle twitching and sweating.

Officials urged people not to eat watermelon until the tainted fruit can be properly identified. In Los Angeles County, a health department spokeswoman said officials found a 99% compliance rate among the 7,760 markets, restaurants and street-vending operations that were inspected or telephoned regarding the recall.

State Health Director Kenneth Kizer “has indicated that if there was something illegal, he will ask that legal action be taken,” Ihle said.

At the same time, state authorities in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California have ordered the recall of thousands of melons and voluntary recalls are in effect in British Columbia and Utah.

Mettler, who has been farming a wide variety of crops in Kern County for more than 50 years, says he stands to lose about $100,000 worth of watermelons because of the recall.

Doubts Interpretation

“No one had any idea it (aldicarb) would stay so long in the soil. It’s supposed to have a life of 100 days. That’s what the label says. Union Carbide must have a wrong interpretation about it,” Mettler said.

But Union Carbide’s Ford said: “There is extensive data regarding soil residues which have been generated by and reviewed extensively by the state of California--one of the strictest states in the nation in terms of pesticide registration standards.”

Ford said the life of aldicarb in the soil “has certainly been reviewed” and “nothing out there supports the claim” that aldicarb remains in the soil four or five years.

Don Andrews, owner of another field found tainted with aldicarb, said he has never used the substance on any of his crops. He said state investigators have not told him which fields were examined, but he figures the aldicarb traces must have been found in a leased area of his large farm. Andrews said the state promised more detailed information by Monday after investigating about 100 Kern County farms.

Records Searched

“We’ve searched our records and our memories and we’ve interrogated everyone who works here and no one can recall using the pesticide. We are very concerned about what it is doing here,” Andrews said.

‘New Things’

Noting that aldicarb is supposed to leave the soil after 100 days, Andrews said: “They find out new things every year. Perhaps they (the state) will have to take a new look at modifying some of its certifications.”

“Our biggest problem right now is the public’s perception,” Andrews added. “If we can destroy those (the tainted melons) and establish the others are free, maybe we will be able to ensure the public’s confidence.”

As for Icardo--whose uncle, Jimmie Icardo, also had aldicarb found in his fields--he thinks there is some overreaction to the melon scare. “I’ve been eating these melons and selling these melons for three weeks now and nobody has gotten sick. And I even give my phone number to people and tell them to call me.”

Times staff writer Jan Klunder contributed to this story.