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Small doses - Pesticides News No. 21
Replacement
for methyl bromide? Methyl bromide, one of the most voracious destroyers of the ozone layer could be replaced by carbonyl sulphide following the discovery of its possible application by Australian scientists at the research organisation CSIRO. The fumigant methyl bromide is responsible for up to 10% of ozone depletion and is likely to face increasingly greater restrictions in the next few years. CSIRO has just applied for a world-wide patent for carbonyl sulphide, which occurs naturally and is the most common form of sulphur in the stratosphere. It is said by CSIRO to have no effect on stratospheric ozone and no measurable effect on climate. Tests have shown that carbonyl sulphide can kill more than 30 insect pests. Doug Parr of Friends of the Earth disputes that it would have no effect on stratospheric ozone: “We do not know enough at present to be so sure of such an assertion.” New
Scientist 31/7/93, and FoE pers. comm. Japanese
pesticides as ‘aid’ to Mongolia Pesticide Action Network Japan is investigating whether the Japanese Government has given significant quantities of pesticides as aid to Mongolia, where there is no regulation on pesticides yet. This comes hot on the heels of worries raised by Japanese environmentalists over their government’s ‘aid’ of hazardous pesticides to Cambodia (PN19 p.21). Japan Resources May-June 1993. ICI Agrochemicals (Malaysia) has decided not to re-run their "Paraquat and Nature Working in Perfect Harmony" advertising campaign after complaints by a local public interest group. The Consumers' Association of Penang claimed that the ICI ads, carried in the Malaysian national press, were misleading the public by suggesting that paraquat is 'environmentally friendly' and 'for a greener Malaysia'. Pers. comm., Consumers' Association of Penang, 29/4/93. The Argentine Government has banned the import, production and sale of methyl and ethyl parathion, after concerted pressure from local environmentalists. Importers will be allowed to sell existing stocks until 31 December 1993. Greenpeace
Argentina, 12 August 1993. Rhône
Poulenc: the image and reality Rhône-Poulenc, part-owned by the French government, is in the market for privatisation and is promoting a green image under the slogan: “Welcome to a cleaner world”. But on 7 June a Brazilian court order required the chemical group to close its factory at Cubatao because of high pollution levels. Rhône-Poulenc has lodged an appeal. The industrial complex of Cubatao is known as the ‘Valley of Death’. Poisoned by dozens of factories, the city has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the country. Blood tests on residents in Cubatao reveal high levels of substances like hexachlorobenzene and pentachlorophenol—produced in the Rhône- Poulenc factory until production stopped several years ago. Intended for both agricultural use and wood treatment, these chemicals can attack the nervous system, skin, liver and the immune defence system. Tests indicate that the concentration of the same product in the soil around the factory reaches 7,840 times the permitted level. In its defence, Rhône-Poulenc says that since 1987 the factory incinerator has eliminated its waste products, as well as those of neighbouring factories. However there remains the problem of more than 12,000 tonnes of chlorinated chemicals dumped along roadsides and into the river Cubatao which provides drinking water to part of the region. Translated
from the French satirical journal Le Canard enchaîne 14 July 1993. Hoechst
sues critics in Philippines Two subsidiaries of Hoechst AG (based in Germany) have recently filed one lawsuit and threatened to file another against Philippine critics of Thiodan, containing the active ingredient endosulfan. One of those targeted is Dr. Romeo Quijano who Hoechst allege “wilfully, maliciously and falsely” stated that Thiodan causes cancer. Hoechst is suing for damages in excess of US$814,800. Hoechst has also threatened legal action against Philippines News and Features for reporting allegations of harassment of a farmer and activist PAN
Asia Pacific, Global Pesticide Campaigner, 3:3, and Cordillera Women’s
Education and Resources Centre. A large quantity, 25,000 kg, of the pesticide aldicarb (Temik), has been stolen from a state farm in the Awash area of Ethiopia. Temik is toxic and the public has been warned not to use it. Addis
Zemen 3 July 1993.
[This article first
appeared in Pesticides News No.21,September 1993, page 14]
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