Pesticide Laws Fail to Protect Farm Workers, Study Finds

California’s farm workers are inadequately protected from on the job pesticide poisoning because the state’s system for tracking such cases is spotty and violations often go unpunished, according to a report issued Wednesday by a coalition of labor and environmental groups.

Citing state figures, the authors tallied 3,991 reported poisonings involving farm workers in California from 1991 to 1996, but said they were certain thousands more cases were never reported.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of pesticide poisonings go unreported. Farm workers are often intimidated by their employers. They fear losing their jobs if they report that they are ill,” said Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, a scientist with the Pesticide Action Network, during a news conference.

The 49-page report, called “Fields of Poison,” was issued by the San Francisco-based network, along with the United Farm Workers and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. Analyzing data collected by the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, it is the newest volley in the debate over the use of pesticides on California farms, the most productive in the nation.

State officials and farming representatives defended the state’s oversight of farming pesticides as the toughest in the nation.

“We think it’s the best system in the country and does a good job of protecting workers,” said Veda Federighi, spokeswoman for the pesticide regulation agency.

The number of workers employed on California farms fluctuates from season to season but averaged 430,000 in 1997, according to state figures. Some say as many as 900,000 workers set foot on fields during the year.

The largest number of poisonings occurred in the cultivation of grapes, cotton and broccoli, the report said. A poisoning was defined as any adverse health condition reported by a worker exposed to pesticides.

It contended that workers are left vulnerable to contamination by a statewide regulatory system that relies on county agriculture officials to investigate reported poisonings and sanction farmers who fail to safeguard workers. The report said fines are seldom levied and most often amount to $150 or less. More common, the study said, are warnings.

Relying on county oversight has left a patchwork of enforcement, the authors claimed. The five farming counties with the most reported poisoning cases--Kern, Fresno, Monterey, Tulare and San Joaquin counties--issued far fewer fines on average than urban counties, such as Los Angeles and Orange.

“This lack of enforcement of pesticide safety laws is akin to traffic police pulling over reckless drivers and merely handing them a letter asking them to please drive more safely,” Ishii-Eiteman said. “It’s utterly ineffective.”

No one died of the poisonings analyzed in the report and state records do not track whether there were complications long after contamination, researchers said. Exposure to certain pesticides can cause skin rashes, dizziness, nausea and worse. “Some of these pesticides are capable of killing,” said Anne Katten, a researcher with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

One expert said the data might exaggerate the peril to farm workers by not distinguishing between cases that are caused by cancer-causing chemicals and those involving more benign agents, such as sulfur sprayed as a fungicide on grapes.

“There is a big difference between exposure to sulfur dust as compared to exposure to material that’s a known carcinogen or known killer,” said Don Villarejo, executive director of the California Institute for Rural Studies in Davis.

The authors said state records, which list all possible contaminants, made such breakdowns impossible.

A spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation said the paucity of fines in farming areas indicates growers are using chemicals properly.

“We believe there has been enforcement of the law when it has been determined that a farmer has misapplied a particular pesticide or sent workers back into a field when they shouldn’t have,” said spokesman Bob Krauter.

Federighi said the state’s 58 counties employ more than 400 staffers to enforce pesticide laws and specialized regulations. The state’s department has another 80 employees working with the counties.

Federighi said pesticide-related illnesses overall dropped by nearly one-fifth statewide in 1997, while cases of exposure to chemicals left on crops has fallen steadily since the early 1980s.

But Federighi said the report might be of use to officials who have undertaken a broad review of the state’s environmental enforcement practices, including those related to pesticides.

“We may need to change policies. We may need new regulations. We may need new laws,” she said.

The report suggested a series of reforms, ranging from banning chemicals believed to cause cancer and birth defects to setting harsher minimum penalties and taking steps to encourage workers to report pesticide-related illnesses. The groups also pointed to the need for more Spanish-speaking county inspectors and greater attention by consumers to how food is grown.

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Pesticide Protections

A new report by a coalition of labor and environmental groups contends California has been lax in enforcing pesticide safeguards for agricultural workers. Following are the counties where the largest number of fines have been issued, and the counties where pesticide is used most.

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Avg. Fines/Year Pesticide Use County 1991-97 in pounds, 1995 1. Los Angeles 124 208,000 2. Orange 53 1 million 3. San Luis Obispo 42 161,000 4. Sacramento 43 2.4 million 5. Riverside 40 4.5 million 1. Fresno 19 40 million 2. Kern 24 24 million 3. Tulare 17 18 million 4. San Joaquin 8 11.6 million 5. Monterey 12 10 million

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Source: “Fields of Poison” report by Pesticide Action Network