Aerial herbicide impact on farmers in Ecuador    

Alarm bells first rang in Ecuador about aerial spraying of herbicides in September 2000 when 44 people from one community reported stomach and skin problems to their local health centre, shortly after major aerial spraying across the border in neighbouring Colombia.

Victims from Valle de Guamúes and San Miguel demonstrate their skin lesions following exposure to the herbicide glyphosate sprayed from the air. Photo Acción Ecológica

Under the US-funded Plan Colombia to eradicate drug crops, crop-dusting planes have sprayed the herbicide glyphosate over at least 40,000 ha in southern Colombia. Aerial application has intensified since December 2000, with startling adverse effects on human and livestock health [see PN 53 p9]. Ecuadorean peasant farmers living close to the border observed planes spraying for several hours a day over three consecutive days during February and March 2001 and noticed how thick clouds descended on their villages, leaving a strong chemical smell in the air and water sources. Peasant organisations have since made several denunciations about the impact of the spraying on their health, animals and crops but the local and national authorities in Ecuador have failed to respond to their concerns, while the US Ambassador in Quito has stated that ‘glyphosate produces the same effect as common salt or aspirin and is less damaging than nicotine or vitamin A.’
    Given the lack of official concern, the PAN Ecuador group Acción Ecológica decided to document some of the health impacts to bring government and public attention to the plight of the farm families affected. In June 2001 they undertook a clinical survey of a sample of 142 people from six communities living between 0-10km from the border zone close to the spraying and also interviewed local health personnel(1). Table 1 presents the symptoms recorded during medical consultation in these communities. 100% of those living within 5km of the spray zone suffered some form of acute poisoning, with fever being the most common symptom, followed by diarrhoea, migraine and dry cough, which demonstrate systemic effects via oral and respiratory tracts. These symptoms were closely followed in frequency by dermatitis, vomiting and conjunctivitis, indicating chemical entry via skin and mucous membranes. 
    The data show a clear relation between number and incidence of symptoms and distance from the spray zone. People within 0-2km suffered an average of six different symptoms (range 2-18), those within 5-6km an average of 5.8 and those 8-10km away an average of four symptoms. Schools in two farming cooperatives close to the border had to close after all 83 pupils became ill. However, only three people from the communities sought medical assistance, one of whom was hospitalised for a week. Most peasant families simply do not have the cash to pay for medical treatment – they tried to treat their symptoms with herbal remedies instead. 
    This lack of interaction with official health services partly explains why the impact of the aerial spraying remains largely invisible to the authorities and public. Three months after the spraying, 33% of residents closest to the border were still suffering chronic intoxication symptoms, and 10% of those at 5-6km distance – mainly dermatitis, fever, migraine and conjunctivitis.
    The precarious household economy of these poor communities has been further undermined by the impact of herbicide fall-out: 80% of poultry in the 0-2km zone died and there were numerous deaths of cattle, pigs, horses, dogs and goats, as well as spontaneous abortions of calves. Animal deaths were reported up to 10km away. This season’s entire coffee crop has been lost, rice yields have dropped by 90% and cocoa, plantain, sugarcane, cassava and fruit production have been badly affected. Farmers now fear that they will be unable to feed their families unless they receive some form of financial aid or compensation, yet none has been offered. 
    Acción Ecológica is calling for urgent action by the Ecuadorean government to pressurize Colombia to halt the spraying, to provide immediate health attention to the affected communities and to tackle the incipient food shortages. In the medium term, they urge a gradual elimination of coca plants by manual, not chemical, methods, which must be planned with local communities and accompanied by alternative crop production programmes. (SW)

Reference
1. A Maldonado, R Buitron, P Granda and L Gallardo, Report on investigation into the impact of fumigation on the Ecuadorean border, Accion Ecologica, June 2001, www.accionecologica.org/

Contact: Lucia Gallardo, Acción Ecológica, Email: biodiversidad@accionecologica.org. Website: www.accionecologica.org

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 54, December 2001, page 8]