March 2005
Cholinesterase Testing Reaction
As reported last month in Chemically Speaking, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries tested the blood of 580 farmworkers who regularly work around pesticides known as organophosphates or carbamates, chiefly used in fruit orchards but also on other crops. The study found 21 percent of them with significant decreases in the enzyme cholinesterase. Nearly 17 percent of the farmworkers had a drop greater than 20 percent in enzyme levels after working around the chemicals for more than 50 hours during a 30-day period. Another four percent of workers showed a 30 percent drop or greater, triggering their immediate removal from the work site.
Heather Hansen, a representative for growers and pesticide applicators, was cited as saying that while the study found lower enzyme levels, only one of the workers reported symptoms that could be traced to the pesticides, and she criticized the rhetoric of farmworker groups, adding, "It implies that we have a lot of really ill and injured people out there. And I want folks to understand that that is not the case."
Michael Wood, head of the Occupation Safety and Health Program at the state Department of Labor and Industries, was quoted as saying, "I would be hesitant to say we have firm enough data to reach any policy conclusions." Wood was further cited as saying the findings convinced him the pesticides were affecting workers, but that the best way to address exposure is not clear. The results suggest it may be linked to the use of air-blast sprayers, which blow pesticide onto trees. Interviews with workers and farmers also showed they were generally following safety regulations, he said. Dean Boyer, spokesman for the Washington Farm Bureau, was quoted as saying, "There was no evidence of any serious widespread problems of exposure to pesticides that would call for any draconian measures."
Carol Dansereau, director of the Farm Worker Pesticide Project, a nonprofit group working to reduce pesticide exposure for Washington farmworkers, was quoted as saying, "We cannot ignore the workers and their families. It's not a question of whether to stop this from happening further, it's a question of how to." Advocates have persuaded state Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, to sponsor legislation that would phase out the use of the pesticides by 2012, with limited exceptions. (The Seattle Times, 2/8/05).
