Bananas are susceptible to damage by insects, the leaves are attacked by fungal diseases and roots are damaged by tiny worm-like creatures called nematodes; weeds grow prolifically under the canopy; once harvested the fruit can also develop ‘crown-rot’ or ripen too early. The solution to all of these problems is pesticides.

Most plantation owners will spend more money on agrochemicals than on their workforce. The chemicals used on the plantations include at least four that are classified by the World Health Organisation as extremely hazardous (the strongest classification) including paraquat, and three organophosphates not approved for use in the UK. Chemicals are aerially sprayed and applied by hand. It is estimated that a high proportion of pesticides sprayed onto crops from planes fail to land on the crop – instead fall onto the soil (not the plants) and into waterways -  and affecting workers on the plantations, and in their homes inside and nearby plantations. 

According to law in some countries, workers should not be in the fields when spraying takes place, but this law is violated. In other countries, there is not even any regulation.

Water Pollution

Toxic chemical residues abound in the soil, water, sediment and fish in areas adjacent to the plantations. The intensive production of bananas places huge demands on the water-courses and poses threats to those downstream using the polluted water for drinking, meal preparation and 
washing. Water used in the packing sheds to wash bananas covered in pesticides is sometimes recycled for use by workers and their families living on the plantations.  Careless storage of chemicals leads to regular pollution incidents, with drastic consequences for aquatic life. 

Health Impacts

The health impacts of pesticide use include depression, respiratory problems, damage to the eyes, cancers, sterility and skin infections. Women can either miscarry or give birth to children with birth defects. Workers are rarely offered adequate protective gear, equipment or training. Those employed in both the plantations and pack-houses undertake back-breaking and repetitive work in hot and humid conditions. There are unlikely to be medical staff on the plantation and doctors are often employed by the companies and therefore unwilling to identify exposure to chemicals or industrial injuries.

Read more under health impacts.

Case Study: DBCP

Nemagon (DBCP) is a virulent pesticide which was used for killing nematodes which live in the soil and attack the roots of banana plants. The product was applied either by injection, through the irrigation system or manually in granular form, so tens of thousands of workers came into contact with the product. For years, the banana companies Dole, Del Monte, and Chiquita, and the chemical companies Dow, Shell and Occidental have faced lawsuits from thousands of Latin American workers over the harmful effects of the highly toxic chemical Nemagon (DBCP) which include birth defects, damage to the liver and kidneys, and allegedly caused sterility in male workers.

In 1977, workers and their union at a formulating plant in Occidental, California, identified the first human sterility cases linked to DBCP. It continued to be used on banana plantations, in some cases up to 1990, after it was banned for use in the U.S. in 1977, and even though the companies were aware of the risks encountered by workers.  Trade unions in Nicaragua and Costa Rica are helping workers to get tested to identify whether their health has been harmed by exposure to DBCP and if so to claim for damages. 5000 sterile workers were ‘listed’ by COSIBA-CR and are represented by North American lawyers in the USA.

A whole generation of DBCP victims are still awaiting for the result of their legal actions, although many have already died early as a result of the exposure and although DBCP has now been banned, such a tragedy could recur.

31st May 2010, Reefertrends

The US multi-national Dole is attempting a ‘breakthrough move’ to settle outstanding claims by its former workers over the impact of the banned pesticide Nemagon.

According to a report in the LA Business Journal, lawyers for the company have filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court asking that nearly 1,500 Honduran farm workers who are suing Dole be allowed to drop out of those suits and settle their claims out of court under an existing programme arranged by the company and Honduran government officials. Dole hopes that this new proposal could quickly end possibly years of litigation from thousands of former workers in an inexpensive way. The programme could serve as a model to help the company settle with plaintiffs from other countries. The workers meanwhile could get some money quickly instead of waiting years for an uncertain outcome, according to Dole. In 2006, the company developed a settlement plan known as the Honduran Worker Programme, with approval from Honduran officials, which would pay workers between roughly $1,500 and $5,800 each if they could prove they worked on a Dole plantation and became sterile. In exchange, the workers agree not to sue the company. However, if the workers are suing Dole, they can’t participate in the programme. The company said it has turned away 197 such individuals who voluntarily applied for settlements. Dole is now asking the court for permission to accept workers into the programme even if they are suing Dole. As a result the workers would surrender their right to sue.

The saga began in the late 1970s, when the US Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DBCP on all fruit except pineapples after studies demonstrated a link between the pesticide and male sterility. DBCP use on pineapples was banned in 1985. Dole continued using the substance at least in Nicaragua until 1980, and it has been hit with lawsuits from tens of thousands of former workers from that country as well as Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, the Ivory Coast and Hawaii. Dole has never admitted that its DBCP use may have led to the workers’ sterility, but it has attempted to settle the suits when possible as a more cost-effective solution. While the company has settled many cases, including a $21m agreement with workers in 1992, it has also lost cases in the United States and abroad. In Nicaragua alone, plaintiffs have won damages totaling more than US$2bn against Dole thanks to a worker-friendly Nicaraguan law, though the company is disputing those rulings.