Murderers!

Nemagon.  The commercial name for DBCP, a pesticide used since the 1960’s on banana fields belonging to multinational companies (aka Del Monte) to combat the nematode worms that attack the banana trees.  Lab tests have shown that Nemagon causes retarded growth, reduced testicles, and major lesions on the kidneys and lungs.  Despite the risks, the FDA approved the pesticide’s use without ”excessive risk.”  Since 1969, when the Standard Fruit Company began Nemagon’s use in Central American, thousands of liters of Nemagon have polluted plantations in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and others.  In 1975, the EPA determined that Nemagon was a carcinogen, and in 1977, when 35 out of 114 workers making the product in the U.S. factory were sterile, the U.S. stopped production temporarily.     

In 1979, Nemagon was outlawed in Costa Rica, but today, Nemagon was still used in Panama and other banana producing countries.  It is estimated that over 65,000 people worldwide have been affected by Nemagon.  67% of banana workers in Nicaragua are sterile or have some other Nemagon-induced disease, and 33% of women working on banana plantations have uterine or breast cancer.

Nemagon also causes mental deficiencies, genetic malformations, still birth, spontaneous abortion, bone deformation, osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, blindness, diabetes, paralysis…the list goes on.  What about the psychological and social consequences?  Sterile men can suffer from self-esteem loss, severe depression, and/or impotence.  In Latin America, where men’s pride is still greatly dependent on their ability to reproduce, sterility is seriously damaging to their self-esteem.  Women aren’t too thrilled either.  And if babies are born, they often have mental and physical defects.  The livelihood of the workers has been destroyed.

In 1997, following legal actions, 20,000 Nemacide-affected workers accepted $100 as severance pay for the damages.  While prices may be cheaper in the third world, a measly $100 is a pittance for a lifetime of sterility or early death caused by cancer.  Costa Rica has been the only country to approve a law that requires state compensation for victims of Nemacide.  In Nicaragua, 4,000 victims have received about $4,800 million.

 Money is not a substitute for life.  Nor for the ability to reproduce.

Nemagon has been responsible for over 1,000 deaths and has affected over 65,000 people.  It is the multinationals that have chosen to use this deadly chemical.  They are psychologically and physically murdering their workers.

It is time to give these murdering companies what they deserve by killing their profits.  Stop buying and eating non-organic bananas.  We do not support the killing of innocent workers!

 Still not convinced?  Check out these pictures of the victims of Nemagon:

Photos Courtesy of Softpedia