"SAD RECORD FOR LIMON: BANANAS THAT POISON"

by Marvin Amador of the Costa Rican Ecological Association and Friends of the Earth

Even though it is practically unknown to the majority of the national population and possibly to the consumers of the United States and Europe, the export bananas produced in the country, require great amounts of toxic chemical products. The use of these products has grave consequences, not only for the consumers, but for the workers on the plantations, as well as for the natural ecosystems and even for the human populations near the plantations.For a long time, large scale export banana production by the activities carried out by national and transnational companies have generated serious economic, social and environmental pro-blems, especially in the Atlantic Zone of the country. With respect to the environment, the intensive and indiscriminate use of toxic chemical products, especially pesticides, stands out, among other grave damages to natural and human ecosystems. For the most part, given the demands of the market, and the high le-vels of utility requred by their producers, bananas are a crop that need the application of large amounts of artificial agrochemicals that are highly toxic and persistent in the environment. For this reason, besides many other environmental problems, large scale export banana cultivation has a grave effect on the health of humans and on the natural environment, caused by the contamination of the soil, of the atmosphere, of superficial and subterranean waters, which consequently cause severe acute and chronic effects on the health of the workers. In Costa Rica, among all the agricultural activities, the large scale monocrop cultivation of export bananas uses the greatest amounts of agrochemicals. On average, up to 44 kg of active substances are applied per hectare per year on the banana plantations. In 1987, the cultivation of bananas consumed 35 percent of the important pesticides of the country. The cost of fighting pests re-presents 35 percent of the total cost of the commercial production of bananas (Von Duszlen, 1988. Thrupp, 1988).

 

Types of chemical products used in banana production

The majority of the chemical products used on the banana plantations has been classified as highly toxic, according to the table of toxicity classification of the World Health Organization (WHO). Among the pesticides most utilized on the banana plantations, the most prevalent are different nematicides, such as Terbuphos, Ethoprophos, Phenamiphos,, Oxamil, Carbofuran, and Aldicarb. These nematicides are organophosphates and carbamides of the type that easily cause acute intoxications. The use of the majority of these nematicides is severely restricted in developed countries, due to their high acute toxicity. These nematicides are, moreover, highly toxic to different types of fauna (aquatic organisms, birds, reptiles, bees, cattle, etc.). Another chemical that is commonly utilized is the herbicide Paraquat (Gramoxone). Despite the fact that it is considered moderately toxic by the WHO, there is evidence that Paraquat is extremely dangerous to human health, so much so, that it was included in the PIC list (Principle of Informed Consent), of the Conduct Code of the FAO. This chemical is a product that can cause intoxications, burns, dermatitis, and possibly, pulmonary lesions in exposed workers. Besides, it is very persistent in the soil.Pesticide management on the banana plantations The banana companies select the pesticides according to the fruit residue tolerance of the buying countries, and not according to the level of toxicity to the environment or to human health. Thus, Paraquat, Aldicarb and others of minor use, such as Carbofuran, Methomyl, and Methyl-Parathion are included in the PIC list, besides being part of the Dirty Dozen of the Pesticide Action Network. Generally, on the banana plantations there is no adequate control of transportation, storage, mixture preparations, and pesticide applications. These products are applied with ground aspersions (in the case of nematicides and herbicides), air aspersions (in the case of fungicides), by bag-wrapping the bunches (in the case of insecticides), and finally at the packing plant (in the case of fungicides and disinfectants). On the plantations, the application of pesticides without adequate control equipment is commonplace; during the process of aerial fumigation, the presence of workers in the fields is not avoided, nor are homes nor bodies of water.The effects of pesticides on human health and the environment The toxicity of the pesticides used in the banana plantation activities has received notoriety by their effects on the health of workers. Reports of burns and other skin and eye lesions caused by the application of the herbicide Paraquat have been common. Likewise, reports of the killing off of aquatic organisms after fumigation and after heavy rains, caused by the runoff of pesticides, have also been common. For these reasons, aerial fumigation is considered one of the most serious causes of environmental and human health problems generated in the banana activities. In the packing plants, men and women workers suffer lesions on the skin, which are difficult to cure. These are caused by the continual contact with the toxic substances in the water, such as aluminum sulfate and potash, as well as the fungicide Thyabendazol (Mertect). According to the Department of Toxic Substances of the Ministry of Health, 58 percent of the systems of application on the plantations show deficiencies regarding security for workers and for the environment. In the Valley of la Estrella, Abarca and Ruepert (1992) detected residues of Chlorpyriphos (used in the plastic bags to protect the banana bunches), and Cholrthalonyl (used to combat Black Sigatoka) in superficial waters. The latter was found in concentrations up to 8 micrograms per liter, where concentrations of 3 to 6.5 micrograms per liter are considered chronic for fish. In the same zone, in seven out of nine samples of subterranean water, Cholrthalonyl was detected in concentrations up to 0.98 micrograms. In seven out of eight samples of sediments, Cholrthalonyl, Chlorpyriphos, Terbuphos and Ethoprop were detected. These levels drastically surpass the permissible levels established by the European Union for potable water, which are 0.1 microgram per liter for individual pesticides and 0.5 microgram per liter for total pesticides. According to the diagnosis carried out by the Ministry of Health in 1992, at that time 82 percent of the banana plantations did not have systems to treat the liquid residues contaminated with agrochemical products.

Bananas: toxicity record in Costa Rica The incidence of worker intoxications with pesticides in the Province of Limon (the principal producer of bananas for export), is 77 percent of the entire country. The incidence of work related intoxications in banana plantations, relative to other agricultural crops in Costa Rica, was of 59.5 percent and 63.9 percent in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The areas of greatest banana production, which include the Atlantic Region and the county of Sarapiqui in the Northern Huetar Region, present the greatest incidence of intoxications by pesticides in Costa Rica: 63 of every 1000 banana workers present problems. Nationally, in 1990, 75 percent of the intoxicated field workers were from Limon and 78 percent from Guapiles (in the Atlantic Region). Of these, 25 percent and 20 percent respectively, were from the packing plants. Moreover, 17 percent of the denunciations corresponded to women, including pregnant women. Due to the high incidence of intoxications, it has been determined that women have greater problems in packing plants (79%), while the men present greater accidents during the application of pesticides (62%) (Vergara, 1991). The calculated rate of work related pesticide intoxications in the banana plantations is of 6.4 percent per year. This is more than a 100 percent difference with the rate of 3 percent of intoxications presented by agricultural workers in developed countries (WHO/UNEP, 1990). With respect to chronic intoxications and long term effects, the most notorious case has been that of the sterilization of more than 2000 workers in the banana zones of Costa Rica, who were exposed to DBCP during the 1970s (Ramirez y Ramirez, 1980; Thrupp, 1991).

THE STRUGGLES ON THE BANANA PLANTATIONS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AS SEEN BY "CALUFA"

Carlos Luis Fallas, Mamita Yunai A "Receiver" would arrive at his respective sector in a banana train, get off at the platform of a banana farm, take hold of the checking machine, and begin receiving the bananas that the peons of the farm had carefully stacked so as not to damage the fruit. "This bunch, no; nor that one, either"... But I am lying, friends. They would not even speak: they would reject the bunches with a simple hand movement. And there was no discussion, because the "Receivers" of the United Fruit, were absolute arbitrators. The farm owner and his peons would watch on with anguish, but in silence, seeing how the pile of rejected bunches grew. Rejected bunches, were lost bunches. And on top of that, came the negotiations of some of the "Receivers" with farmer friends, who would accept extra loads with 50 percent of the cut for himself. They would receive from the farmer 200 more bunches: 100 for the farmer and 100 for the "Receiver". Of course, later on, these 200 bunches would have to be rejected at other farms, in order to be able to hand in "square numbers" to the Management.