Nicaraguans awarded $3.2m over pesticides - Guardian

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Nicaraguans awarded $3.2m over pesticides

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Wednesday November 7, 2007
The Guardian

Six Nicaraguan farmworkers have won $3.2m (£1.53m) in
damages after a Los Angeles jury agreed that they had
been rendered sterile by the use of a banned pesticide
by the US company Dole Food.

The judgment is the first in what could be a series of
lawsuits against the company, and marks the first time
that foreign farmworkers have successfully sued the US
food giant in a US court. Four more cases are pending
in Los Angeles, brought by thousands of workers from
Central America.

The pesticide, DBCP, was sprayed on banana crops at
night. Its makers, Dow Chemical Co, claimed that it
eradicated pests that attack roots and boosted the
weight of banana crops by 20%. But its use was
suspended in the US in 1977 after workers in California
were found to have a low or zero sperm count. Lawyers
for the plaintiffs argued that Dole continued to use
the chemical even though it was aware of the potential
health risks. The chemical, argued Duane Miller, lead
counsel for the workers, robbed the workers of their
"male sexual identity".

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2206434,00.html