There has been a flurry of articles in the Ecuadorian press in the last week focusing on the damage to the health of local inhabitants and plantation workers in the banana communities from the use and abuse of agrochemicals, especially from indiscriminate aerial spraying. Although such issues have been widely reported in Central America, the levels of awareness of – and action to remedy - the problem in the world's number one banana exporting country have been very low.

In this review of three articles from the El Comercio newspaper, the only encouraging news is that environmental organisations at local, national and regional level and local authorities have started becoming involved in channeling formal complaints from affected communities in Guayas and El Oro provinces.

 

Las Ramas, Salitre, Guayas province
The mayor of Salitre canton is preparing a formal request to stop aerial spraying that is affecting the 600 inhabitants of Las Ramas. Every three weeks, the planes come over from nearby Primavera and Vizcaya plantations, recently bought by the Russian banana companies Sunway and JFC.

In a study published in September 2006 by two NGOs, Acción Ecológica and FEDESO, the women of Las Ramas affirm that, in the last six years, out of a total of 616 pregnancies, there have been 72 miscarriages.  There are also 14 children born with congenital deformities.  Although there is no conclusive scientific evidence of the link with pesticides, the circumstantial evidence is very strong.  Out of fifteen drinking water and soil samples, eleven showed pesticide contamination, notably by the insecticides chlorpyriphos and endsulphan and the fungicide 'Captan'.

Children in the Las Ramas primary school nearly all had complaints to journalists about the effects of the aerial spraying. One girl complained that “every time the planes pass over and chuck out the liquid I feel it burning my skin.”  A grandmother worries every time she hears the planes coming because “my four-year old grandson complains that his throat burns and his eyes itch”. The NGO study at Las Ramas reveals that over 50% of the inhabitants report different symptoms since aerial spraying started.

The manager of the JFC-owned plantation denies that spraying affects the nearby population, adding that they use the least harmful chemicals.  He also stated that the nearest houses are 50 metres from the plantation and are separated by a road, so the company is complying with local environmental laws.  However, the government agency responsible for approving pesticides for use notes that “any pesticide carries a certain level of danger and toxicity”.

Pilots and chemical operatives also affected
A second study from April 2007 of aerial spray-plane pilots, carried out by the National Institute for Hygiene (INH), showed that 95% of the pilots had the highly toxic chemical carbamate in their blood.  “I thought I was suffering heart problems, because I suffered headaches and fatigue. But when INH did their tests they detected carbamate”, said one pilot.

Others who work in the chemical stores or mix the products had similar complaints. Victor Robles worked for 15 years as a spraying inspector in a banana plantation, but gave up his job “because when I come into contact with chemicals now they make me itch and the whole left side of my body goes to sleep”. Together with the Latin American Pesticides Action Network (RAPAL), Victor and others have made a formal complaint to the National Ombudsman.

Pompilio Espinoza, President of the National Chamber of Banana Commerce, believes that there is a need for a body which sets standards in this domain.

La Iberia, El Guabo, El Oro province
In El Oro province, the spokesman for La Iberia Parish Council in El Guabo canton, a community where 95% of the inhabitants are employed in the banana industry, reports that the planes spray over the school playground and over peoples houses:  “We live surrounded by banana plantations and they're always spraying us from above”.  The chief doctor at the local clinic adds that “there are no studies to show that all the skin complaints, respiratory problems and stomach upsets people have here are linked to exposure to chemicals, but it's easy to deduce that they are.”

Dominga Delgado, member of the local environmental committee reports that “we see children born with deformities and women diagnosed with cancer”. José Quishpo, member of the El Oro Banana Workers' Association (affiliated to FENACLE), adds that “it is those of us who spray chemicals inside the plantations that are most at risk, but nobody pays much attention to us.”  

Last May RAPAL lodged a complaint with the Machala Ombudsman alleging that chemical spraying is carried out “under conditions which do not respect environmental and health standards”.