Abstract

Nerve Gas in the Orchards

Pesticides poisoning can be slow and insidious. The flu-like symptoms grow daily worse as a worker moves through the field, or climbs in the trees, brushing against contaminated foliage, breathing the residues of deadly chemicals. This year 1,400 Californians will be poisoned, or injured, by pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Nearly half will be disabled for a time, most will recover, nine or ten will die. These are predictable figures, based on state public health records that show half the casualties are farm workers. The problem is by no means confined to California. In, every farm state, pesticide handlers, field workers, children, airplane pilots, even bystanders are poisoned. But no one knows how big the national problem is because California has been the only state to keep records. Its occupational disease statistics show that pesticides make farm work one of the most dangerous of contemporary jobs, and two recent disclosures indicate that the records show only the tip of a tragic iceberg.