Pesticide disaster in the French Caribbean

The indiscriminate use of agricultural chemicals can lead to significant adverse health consequences for both farm workers and consumers alike. All too frequently, commercial imperatives take precedence over human health concerns. And when this happens, the long-term consequences can be disastrous. Just ask the residents of the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The islands, which up until recently were considered a tropical paradise, have been ruined. And the culprit? Pesticides. Chlordecone to be exact. You see, chlordecone was sprayed for decades on the islands’ banana crops. While initially the use of Chlordecone resulted in crop yield increases, as each season passed, more Chlordecone was required to achieve the same results. But then something started happening. The islands’ inhabitants started getting sick. Really sick.

The islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe are home to 800,000 people. The local banana industry is one of the economic mainstays of the region. Employing around 15,000 workers, the combined crop amounts to more than 250,000 tonnes in a good season.

It is now apparent that a majority of newborns in Guadeloupe have tested positive for Chlordecone contamination. According to Professor Dominique Belpomme, a cancer specialist commissioned to report on the ailing health of island inhabitants by the French National Assembly, “There is a contamination of Chlordecone of the soil, water and the sea coast. Now we have to pay for this contamination with some diseases, especially prostate cancer, and leukaemia. The incidences of both cancers are very high in Martinique.”

Used for controlling banana crop pests, Chlordecone is a suspected carcinogen, banned across most of Europe since 1990. Its application in the French Caribbean was restricted from 1993 although there are indications that aerial spraying continued illegally until 2002.

Like other chlorinated ketones, Chlordecone will contaminate soil and groundwater for many decades. It is readily absorbed through the skin and digestive tract. The majority of exposure is likely to be caused through ingesting contaminated soil. Mothers living near hazardous sites transmit the chemical through their breast milk.

Acute exposure to Chlordecone is associated with neurological symptoms like tremors, headaches, slurred speech, dizziness, and memory loss. The long-term effects include an increased risk of developing cancer, weight loss, and sterility.

The populations of Martinique and Guadeloupe are now beginning to show the unfortunate effects of Chlordecone poisoning. Health professionals are still attempting to explain the increased rates of cancer, congenital malformation, and infertility. Meanwhile there will always be some individuals seeking to disprove the links between extensive pesticide use and chronic health problems.