PESTICIDE DANGER

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 18

PESTICIDE DANGER

The deadly danger of modern pesticides is brought home vividly by pamphlets issued by the Department of Health. While one of the headings—“ Know your enemy”—is directed at insects and plant diseases, it appears to apply with equal emphasis to the pesticides. A pamphlet for home gardeners begins with the observation that children are tragically poisoned every year through eating or drinking spray concentrates or playing with supposedly empty containers, and says that garden sprays can be used safely only if a large number of . precautions are taken. These include care in stori age and spraying, restricting spraying to what is strictly necessary, following direcI tions closely, disposing of i containers according to strict i procedures, not smoking dur- ’ ing spraying (as spray will be

on the fingers) and washing thoroughly afterwards — clothes as well as the person. Commercial gardeners are warned in another pamphlet that the pesticides they handle are in many cases more dangerous than those available to the general public and are “very poisonous.” Protective clothing, they are told, may be hot and cumbersome, but it may save their lives.

“Know the symptoms of poisoning and keep some atropine handy in case you are affected by organophosphate sprays,” says the pamphlet. “If you spray with these materials, arrange with your doctor for regular blood tests to ensure that you are not absorbing too much spray.” The commercial grower’s respirator should be washed with warm water and detergent after use, dried and stored in a clean plastic bag. says the advice. “Ensure that ; you use the correct filter and ’ change it at the recommended . intervals. Don’t wait for 1 breathing to become difficult or vapours to come through.” Empty containers, it says, . can contain enough residue to poison a child, fatally, and if not taken to a controlled tip should be disposed of

either by burning (“but stay clear of the smoke as some of the poisons are volatile”) or by rinsing with a 10 per cent washing soda solution followed by crushing and burial at least two feet deep.