Vidarbha farmers death: ‘Blaming death on pesticides campaign by NGOs’

The WHO and FAO of the United Nations strongly advised India in 2009 to withdraw all WHO Class-I insecticides. Phorate (Class 1a), Monocrotophos, Methyl Demeton, Triazophos and Methomyl, which belong to Class 1b are most commonly used in India. (Express Photo: Deepak Dawre)

Doctors and other experts attribute the deaths of over 40 cotton farmers and farm labourers in Vidarbha to passive pesticide inhalation, among other reasons, but the apex crop protection industry body, Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), has put up arguments against this view.

In a submission to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Maharashtra government to probe the deaths, CCFI alleged that blaming the deaths on pesticides was a campaign by “foreign-funded” NGOs. It says, “India has emerged a world leader in cotton with over 250 per cent increase in production between 2000 and 2016. Global NGOs have been active in Yavatmal for long. Tarnishing Indian agriculture brings pecuniary benefits to Indian NGOs. The donors are mostly in European Union, the largest pesticide exporter…”

CCFI is led by its president Raju Shroff, whose United Phosphorous Ltd is the country’s leading manufacturer of pesticide Monocrotophos, used extensively on cotton crop. Listing top 15 pesticide consuming countries, CCFI claims India is at the 11th position.

CCFI claimed, “To evaluate acceptable level of pesticide exposure, the World Health Organisation (WHO) determines first the no-effect levels on animals and then extrapolates them on humans by a safety factor of at least 100. The diluted spray solution is less toxic and less hazardous than the concentrated formulation sold. Pesticide dilution/application rates prescribed for crops are considerably lower than the acute toxic levels to humans. The water-pesticide mixture ratio is typically 100:0.5 for most organophosphate pesticides. Thus, the spray mixture contains 200 times more water than the pesticide formulation. Therefore, the toxicity arising from off target air drift of this spray mixture through dermal deposit will not be acutely fatal.”

It goes onto say, “In case of fatality, pesticide residue levels in blood offer diagnostic clues and guide treatment. None of the 43 blood samples analysed by Amravati laboratory showed pesticide residue.” “In rare and extreme cases, occupational exposure to pesticides would lead to milder signs of poisoning. These mild poisonings can be treated,” it adds. The CCFI recommended “regulatory action against foreign-funded NGOs who spread falsehood about Indian agriculture.”

A tabulation by Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) about pesticide use till 2015 shows that about one-fourth of the total pesticide used in India is for cotton. The CICR, in its recent report on deaths in Yavatmal, has blamed non-prescribed use of cocktails of pesticides by farmers, excessive exposure to pesticide fog due to intensive spraying by newly-introduced power sprays, exposure due to extra height gained by the crop this year resulting in shoulder and head-level spraying, and farmers not using protective gear, among other reasons for the illness and deaths.

Even doctors who treated the patients stated that the reasons lay in excessive exposure to pesticide fumes.
A globally acclaimed cotton scientist said on the condition of anonymity, “Some insecticides such as WHO Class 1 are highly toxic even when diluted 200 times. For example, Monocrotophos is the second most popular insecticide in India. It is highly water soluble and lethal even when inhaled. The concentration of Monocrotophos at 800 gm/ha in 400 litre water (recommended dose for bollworm control in cotton) contains 200 mg in 100 ml water.

As per the acute toxicity LD50 (lethal dose) data mentioned by WHO, for a person of 60 kg body weight, 420 ml of such diluted pesticide solution containing 840 mg insecticide as oral intake or 3.36 litres of solution, containing 6.72 gram insecticide as dermal absorption or 2.4 litre of mist containing 4.8 grams of insecticide as inhalation can be lethal. But occupational exposure happens through all these routes simultaneously. Moreover, farmers use higher dosages of these insecticides, also most commonly as cocktails, which makes the diluted solution more lethal.”

The WHO and FAO of the United Nations strongly advised India in 2009 to withdraw all WHO Class-I insecticides. Phorate (Class 1a), Monocrotophos, Methyl Demeton, Triazophos and Methomyl, which belong to Class 1b are most commonly used in India, generally by illiterate farmers, without any protective gear. All these insecticides are dangerous when used without precautions. At least 40-60 countries have banned these insecticides.

The expert added: “The term pesticides includes mainly insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. While 65% of pesticides in India are insecticides, it is only 21% and 30% in USA and Japan respectively. Insecticide use in developed countries cannot be compared to India, mainly because of the aerial method of spraying on agricultural lands, which do not have any human dwellings and also because of the least possibility of human exposure due to protective gear and trained farmers. In the US, Japan and many other countries, farmers can buy pesticides only if they have the license. All advanced countries have banned almost all highly hazardous pesticides and developed countries that use a few of them make it available only to trained farmers under special conditions.

About residue not being found in blood, the expert said, “Absence or low levels of insecticide in blood is common in organophosphate poisoning cases, especially in cases of inhalation or dermal contact which happens over a period of continuous exposure. The poison gets rapidly but continuously metabolized in the human blood by phosphotriesterase enzymes. However, autopsy of organophosphate (OP) poisoned patients will show congested internal organs and tissues such as liver, lungs and mucosa of the stomach. These tissues are likely to contain accumulated insecticide residues.”

In a separate response to queries from The Sunday Express, CCFI chairman Shroff said, “For Monocrotophos, for lethal dermal toxicity, a person of 60 kg must absorb 6,720 mg of (112 mg x 60) from the spray drift through the skin. This is possible only if 1,500 litre of spray drift comes in contact and stays on the skin till the absorption is complete. A 100% impossibility. For lethal inhalation toxicity, one has to inhale 1,900 litre of water droplets (from spray drift) and take in 840 mg of Monocrotophos. A 100 % impossibility.”

Chairman of the SIT, Amravati Divisonal Commissioner Piyush Singh, said, “We are taking all aspects and factors into consideration. And we have spoken to many stakeholders. It cannot be denied that among the many factors that led to the tragedy, pesticide inhalation was the prime reason. The post-mortem reports of all deaths have confirmed the presence of organophosphate pesticides. Of course, it is also necessary to factor in spraying. We will be taking a balanced view of all the facts that have come before us and will not be influenced by any one particular side of
the story.”

Chairman of government taskforce Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swawlamban Mission, Kishore Tiwari, has objected to the CCFI claim that pesticides are not responsible for the recent deaths. “This is untrue as, according to a WHO report, organophosphorous pesticide poisoning is an important chemical problem in rural regions of India… We demand a ban on all highly toxic organophosphorous pesticides categorized by WHO as class-I toxic in the cotton growing region of Maharashtra,” Tiwari said in a release addressed to the Centre.