When farmers hear that a pesticide may be taken off the market because it could pose a risk to their health, they get concerned, says Chuck Fossay.
But it’s not necessarily the threat to their health that worries them, says the Starbuck, Man., farmer.
It’s the fact that they might no longer be able to use the pesticide in question.
“People get concerned because they might be losing a valuable tool they depend on,” he said in a recent interview.
Farmers know that the pesticides they use are inherently dangerous and could conceivably have unknown long-term effects on their health, but it’s not something that most spend time worrying about, said Fossay, chair of the health and safety committee of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
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“It’s an issue that’s far in the background,” he said. “Most farmers feel that as long as they handle chemicals in a proper and safe manner, the risk to them health-wise is minimal and acceptable.”
No matter what the subject, trying to answer a question that starts with the words “What do farmers think about …?” is always a dangerous game.
Different farmers think different things and that certainly holds true when it comes to pesticides and cancer risks.
On one end of the spectrum, some think the biggest issue is having access to effective and affordable pesticides. They figure the pesticides on the market today are safer than those used 20 or 30 years ago. They adopt the attitude that products wouldn’t be allowed on the market if they weren’t safe.
“I think farmers rely pretty heavily on the regulators,” said Cecilia Olver, a vice-president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. “They’re assuming that somebody’s looking out for them.”
At the other end of the spectrum is Elmer Laird. The 79-year-old Laird, a longtime outspoken advocate of organic farming, hasn’t used chemicals on his Davidson, Sask., farm since 1969. As far as he’s concerned, pesticides don’t present simply a statistical or theoretical risk, but a clear and present danger.
“I’m completely convinced that heavy pesticide use is causing cancer,” he said. “Small-town Saskatchewan is full of chemical widows. I may get shot for saying it, but that’s what I really believe.”
One thing that’s generally agreed upon among farmers, industry officials, health researchers and farm safety experts is that farmers handle chemicals in a much safer manner today than they used to.
Every farmer knows horror stories about chemicals being mixed with a bare arm, nozzles being blown out by mouth and contaminated clothing being worn day after day. Now, farmers commonly use protective clothing, gloves and masks.
“The culture has changed quite a bit with regard to handling chemicals,” said Helen McDuffie, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural, Rural and Environmental Health at the University of Saskatchewan. But, she added there are still some farmers who, even after attending safety courses, will boast that they’ve stirred chemicals with their arms and never had any health problems.
Laird said that even if farmers are more careful about handling pesticides, they also spray more then they used to because of new farming methods.
According to statistics from CropLife Canada, an association representing pesticide manufacturers and distributors, the volume of active ingredients sold in Western Canada rose steadily throughout the early 1990s, but has been flat to slightly lower in the period 1997-2002.
Olver said most farmers are well aware of the dangers associated with pesticides and the need to handle them safely and properly, but fatigue or time pressures can sometimes interfere.
“All of a sudden you’ll take that chance instead of putting everything on before you go out and change that nozzle,” she said.
The other problem is that even if farmers do sometimes worry about the possibility of getting cancer from long-term use of pesticides, most feel like they have no choice but to continue applying chemicals to their crops.
“My husband does all the spraying and I think maybe he knows in the back of his mind he may be shortening his life, but he simply does it because it has to be done,” said Olver. “I think most farmers know the risk but don’t know what the alternative is, other than taking all the precautions you can.”
A U.S. agricultural policy consultant with an extensive background in pesticide regulatory issues said farmers need to seriously examine their attitudes about the cancer risks associated with pesticides.
“I think most farmers approach this with a great deal of naivete,” Charles Benbrook said in an interview from Sandpoint, Idaho.
The chemical industry has successfully demonized the environmental and public health community, he said, to the point that farmers think that all the activists want to do is put them out of business.
“Farmers have accepted the public relations from the chemical industry,” he said.
