Farmworkers Risk Their Health And The Health Of Their Children When Forced To Work With Paraquat

Farmworkers are forced to work in fields, vineyards, and orchards where paraquat has been sprayed or lose their job

Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - Farming industries in the US and elsewhere employ millions of farmworkers, most of whom migrate with their families from farm to farm based on the weather to stay employed and keep themselves fed, housed, and clothed. Farm work is low-paying, sun-up to sun-down, backbreaking labor. The entire family is usually involved in some sort of task if only to help the parents dress into their useless paraquat-protection gear. Most farmworkers pick crops. Farmworkers and their families also spray for the purpose of weed control often exposing them to paraquat. Some have said it is not unusual to come home drenched in the herbicide from aerial spraying. The 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations failed to stop aerial spraying. Instead, the agency insists that farms establish a small, ineffective buffer zone with the intent of protecting the people that live, work, and play in the surrounding communities. The EPA has put regulations into effect that are intended to protect farmworkers, but most say that the regulations do not deal with farmworkers' greatest risks. Farmworkers have developed paraquat Parkinson's disease after working with the deadly defoliant regularly for many years, and have filed paraquat lawsuits against Syngenta and Chevron, two of the leading manufacturers of the chemical. The Farmworker Association of Florida filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to ban paraquat, claiming that renewing paraquat's license violates the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Paraquat usage in the United States has more than doubled every ten years for the last half-century. Paraquat is sprayed near crops to indiscriminately kill every plant it comes into contact with, unlike glyphosate whose crops are genetically engineered to be resistant. This is an important distinction because farmers use paraquat on their crops immediately pre-harvest to dry them out, making them cheaper to bring to market and reducing cost. They also spray it to "burn down" the remains of the crops after harvesting. According to EarthJustice, "Paraquat is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States, used on crops like grapes, almonds, soybeans, cotton, and more. Its use has grown dramatically in recent years, doubling between 2012 and 2017 despite its serious health risks." Studies have shown that paraquat herbicide can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled, causing respiratory failure, kidneys, and eye damage. It is also linked to the epidemic of Parkinson's disease around the world. In the summer of 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewed paraquat's license for 15 more years, despite paraquat being a proven risk to human health. "The EPA also dismissed the connection between paraquat exposure and Parkinson's Disease, despite scientific studies finding that paraquat can increase the risk of Parkinson's by 150%." Hundreds of paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuits allege that Syngenta failed to warn farmworks of the link between working with paraquat regularly for many years and developing the deadly neurological disorder.

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.