Certain Countries That Have Banned Using Paraquat Support Manufacturing And Exporting It

Banning paraquat at home is useless if companies are free to manufacture the defoliant and other deadly agricultural chemicals and sell them to other countries

Monday, March 21, 2022 - One of the talking points circulated by plaintiff attorneys is that paraquat herbicide is so toxic (just one sip can cause instant death) that fifty countries have banned its use within their territories. Thousands of people in every country in the third world to the most industrialized, have died from being accidentally poisoned by drinking paraquat. Paraquat was and still is one of the preferred vehicles with which to commit suicide. What is not being advertised, however, is that countries like Switzerland, China, and those in the European Union that have banned its use, encourage Syngenta and Chevron to manufacture and export the chemical from within their borders. EndsReport.com tells readers, in an article titled, "2,000 tonnes of banned pesticides and insecticides exported from the UK in 2020" of the hypocrisy on display by countries that care more for the politics of their own country than for the health and well-being of farmworkers in underdeveloped countries. According to ER, "More than 12,000 tonnes of pesticides and insecticides, including the highly toxic paraquat, which is banned for agricultural use within the UK, were shipped for use abroad in 2020, an investigation has revealed." According to UnEarthed.GreenPeace.com, the chemicals that the UK exports include some that cause accidental poisoning death such as paraquat and others that have been shown to cause bee colony collapse and harm to unborn children. Studies link repeatedly inhaling paraquat may lead to developing paraquat Parkinson's disease, a deadly incurable neurological disorder. More than 125,000 people in the United States have registered to file paraquat lawsuits against Syngenta and Chevron.

The UK raised public concern when companies there applied for permission to double the amount of these toxic, banned, chemicals they would manufacture and sell abroad. Human rights experts, according to Greenpeace (GP), are concerned that companies were taking advantage of England's Brexit transition to bend the rules. "Marcos Orellana, the United Nations' special reporter on toxics and human rights, said there was simply no excuse for the UK to ignore the science and fail to adopt the evolving EC standards on health, safety and environment." according to GP. Of concern is that exporting paraquat and other highly toxic chemicals puts farmworkers at risk every day, and may harm their children's physical and neurological development. Orellana continued, "Continuing to allow the export of banned and hazardous pesticides poses a direct assault on the human rights of the most vulnerable, which are often the poor that work the fields in developing countries. Meanwhile, the export of pesticides that harm pollinating insects poses a direct threat to food security in already poor countries experiencing food challenge." Paraquat is on the restricted chemicals list in Chile, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, South Korea, Togo, and the United States of America where Syngenta's license to make the defoliant was recently extended for another 15-years.

Lawyers for Paraquat Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Paraquat Lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.