Before fields are sown with seeds on Cambodia’s
largest corn, cassava, rubber and tobacco plantations, the soil is first
sprayed with glyphosate, the world’s leading herbicide.
Glyphosate
– commonly sold as Roundup – is largely marketed as a “safe” weed whacker, but
recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate the herbicide is
in fact a likely carcinogen, despite having inhabited the Kingdom’s list of
approved chemicals for more than a decade and having even been promoted to
Cambodian farmers by USAID.
In March,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the WHO,
released data that linked glyphosate, along with four other common
insecticides, to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as well as chromosomal and DNA damage
in human cells.
While 116
chemical pesticides were banned in Cambodia in 2009 – albeit with minimal
enforcement, agriculture experts say – glyphosate has been on the “safe” list
since 2003. Today, glyphosate is legal and easily accessible to Cambodians by
way of local markets, and available for import from Thailand, China and
Vietnam, home to two offices of agribusiness giant Monsanto, maker of Roundup.
However,
agricultural organisations throughout Cambodia say the Kingdom’s farmers are
often overly exposed and intentionally left uninformed about the potential
dangers of glyphosate. Due to limited funds and knowledge, protective gear can
be minimal for farmers handling toxic chemicals, and more often than not the
risks are overlooked by those who rely on their crops for their meagre
livelihoods.
“Some
companies, they don’t tell the worker about the poisoning, and [farmers] don’t
know to wear personal protection equipment – they wear only short pants, they
don’t use masks or anything,” said Keam Makarady, the health and environment
program director for the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in
Agriculture (CEDAC).
He added
that he has seen workers on sugar cane plantations playfully spray each other
with the herbicide.
“They say
it is like drinking water because [they are told] it’s not harmful,” he said,
adding that some “companies use their money to . . . lobby the government,
saying it is not harmful”.
Makarady
said that “most” plantations in Cambodia utilise glyphosate. Chemical
poisoning, he added, is so common that many farmers visit the doctor on a
weekly basis or hire others to do the work to avoid exposure. A 2011 report by
Danish researchers found that nearly 90 per cent of Cambodian farmers surveyed
on 100 farms displayed symptoms of insecticide and herbicide exposure.
“Some
farmers actually know that the impacts of the chemicals are very, very bad
. . . but they have no choice,” said Say Jeudi of the Coalition of Cambodia
Farmers Community (CCFC).
Jeudi
said that many farmers choose chemical options, often mixing a combination of
strong herbicides, because they believe it will help them yield a larger crop
and stay competitive in a market already dominated by larger plantations.
“People
in the rural areas only calculate for their daily livelihood,” he said. “They
don’t think beyond the immediate result”.
Earlier
this month, Greenpeace released a report on pesticides that found farmers and
rural inhabitants are the most at risk for chemical exposure, including to
glyphosate. The report found that traces of pesticides, even those long
suspended, still existed in hair follicles and could be transmitted through
breast milk, leading to developmental impairment in children. Glyphosate is one
of the most widespread chemicals, the report says, with a presence in more than
740 products used for forestry, urban life and home use, including gardening.
The
recent reports on the herbicide have sparked an international furore. On
Friday, Colombia suspended the use of the glyphosate after decades of using it
to fumigate illegal coca crops and curb drug trafficking. The move followed
years of local reports of skin ailments and developmental disabilities in
children. Yesterday morning, the International Society of Doctors for the
Environment petitioned the European Union’s parliament to ban the chemical
entirely, and a German chain store has already pledged to remove glyphosate
products from its stores by September.
Cambodian
government officials, however, remain sceptical that glyphosate is a danger to
the population.
“We have
not banned the use of glyphosate,” said Hean Vanhan, deputy director of the
Agriculture Department at the Ministry of Agriculture. “I accept the world is
discussing its danger, but it is only dangerous if we use it in the wrong way.”
Lor
Rasmey, spokesman for the ministry, also said yesterday he believed the
herbicide to be of only minimal danger, explaining, “In France, they still use
it.”
The
argument mirrors that commonly used in the US, where as recently as 2010,
glyphosate was referred to as a “miracle chemical for farmers”, according to
the New York Times.
This
language was also parroted in a bulletin for Cambodian farmers distributed by
USAID in 2011, which states the “very low toxicity” of glyphosate and
recommends it as an effective farming tool.
When
asked if the agency would reconsider its endorsement, a spokesman yesterday
referred to comments made by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the
situation in Colombia, who told El Tiempo: “I can tell you that glyphosate is
used in all states of my country, and believe me, we’d have taken action if
there was something wrong.”
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