Trump's EPA Greenlights a Nasty Chemical. A Month Later, It Poisons a Bunch of Farmworkers.

[DonViejo]

Source: Mother Jones



"Anybody that was exposed, we encourage them to seek medical attention immediately," a California public health official stated.

TOM PHILPOTTMAY 15, 2017 6:00 AM

On May 5, more than 50 farmworkers outside of Bakersfield, California, were exposed to a highly toxic pesticide that apparently drifted from a nearby field—at a high enough level that "twelve people reported symptoms of vomiting (and) nausea and one person fainted," reports the television news station Kern Golden Empire. "An additional twelve workers did not show signs of any symptoms," the station reported. "However more than half of the farm workers left before medical aide arrived."

Public health authorities took the poisoning quite seriously. "Anybody that was exposed, that was here today, we encourage them to seek medical attention immediately. Don't wait. Particularly if you're suffering from any symptoms. Whether it's nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, seek medical attention immediately," Michelle Corson, public relations officer at Kern County Public Health, said in an announcement to the TV station.

According to the news report, the poisoning was caused by a chemical called chlorpyrifos. A spokeswoman for the Kern County Department of Public Health said the department assumes chlorpyrifos was the active ingredient in the pesticide in question, but the matter is still under investigation by the Kern County Department of Agriculture and Measurement Standards. A spokesman for that office said test results pinpointing the chemical are pending but would not be done for at least a week. Dow AgroSciences, one of the main makers of the chemical, did not respond to phone calls and emails.

Many public health experts, scientists, and environmentalists have for years been pushing for a ban on chlorpyrifos, and last year it was looking like the Environmental Protection Agency intended to instate one. According to the National Pesticide Information Center, exposure to the chemical through inhalation can cause initial symptoms like "tearing of the eyes, runny nose, increased saliva and sweat production, nausea, dizziness and headache," followed by possible "muscle twitching, weakness or tremors, lack of coordination, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and pupil constriction with blurred or darkened vision." Chlorpyrifos is an endocrine disrupter, and major studies (here, here, and here) have found strong evidence to suggest that even at very low doses, the chemical triggers effects among children ranging from lower IQ to higher rates of autism. More here.



Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/05/california-farm-workers-just-got-poisoned-nasty-pesticide-greenlghted-trump

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Top 1% values bottom line profits. To them, workers are expendable, except they are paradoxically

... except the Republican 1% is also paradoxically drying up their source of cheap farm labor.

[Blue Meany]

4. Well, I guess the law of supply and demand will have to determine the cost of

labor.

[MattP]

2. Environmental Poisoning Agency

[IronLionZion]

3. How many of those farm workers have health insurance?

poisoning the environment and people, and repeal any chance of having health insurance is how they make America great again. I imagine some of those farm workers might be low income immigrants.



Considering what Dolt 45 has been doing to every federal agency and program. If we ever had a Medicare for all program they would find a way to "make single payer great again" in ways we won't like.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. All of them.

If they don't have employer-paid or self-paid insurance then they have Republicon insurance: Emergency Room care, which is the highest cost and is a cost paid by the taxpayer.

ObamaCare (ACA) saves the taxpayer money. By making health insurance affordable to all in principle (not emergency last resort), it also makes the USA stronger, more competitive, and less miserable. All that makes the nation more productive and increases the tax base, spreading the burden and growing the economy.

[IronLionZion]

8. That's a Republican myth

Emergency room is for emergencies only. If you're about to die, they'll stabilize you to save your life and show you the door at a very high cost to taxpayers and pad the bills for those of us who have insurance for other hospital care.

ER is no substitute for insurance or having a primary physician who knows your medical history and coordinates care with specialists and follows up over time.

Obamacare is good step in the right direction but there are still many who can't afford insurance.

Nobody knows when they're going to get some serious illness like cancer. This poisonous chemical might ruin these worker's lives.

[uppityperson]

9. I wonder if any are undocumented and didn't want to risk being arrested

[Maxheader]

6. Pack the courts..

with lawsuits...defendant named donny trumph...

[FakeNoose]

7. That's the ticket

Cheeto 45 understands lawsuits, if nothing else.

He has a whole pack of lawyers working full-time on them too. It goes way back, long before he became POTUS, this is how he does his normal business. Sue the shit out of him, or he won't stop.