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ABSTRACTS
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Common Ground: Agribusiness and Farm Worker Debate on Human Health and
Environmental Quality in the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic.
Carlalynne C. Melendez Abstract In the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic, the greatest disparities in interpreting the effects of pesticides on the environment and human health are those between farm workers and agribusiness owners. Farm workers are aware that the pesticides they use to boost agribusiness production, is having adverse health effects on them and their families. Although they perceive that they will ultimately be subject to pesticide exposure, poor economic conditions keep them tied to the farm. Agribusiness owners, in contrast, seem completely disconnected from the region’s environmental problems. They perceive pesticides as causing seemingly small changes in environmental quality and human health. This paper argues that both groups fail to make important connections between their economic and farm activities and the natural environment. Few appreciate the extreme sensitivity of organisms and resources -- including those upon which humans depend on for survival (i.e., air, water and soil). Agribusiness strong inclination toward a profit-driven market economy is seen as a major cause for the environmental and human health problems affecting this intermountain region. This paper presents both arguments in an attempt to understand both sides of the debate. Key words: Agribusiness, health, agro-science, ecosystems, biogeophysical, pesticides, intermountain, environment.
Bridging the Anthropological and Geographical Divide in Human-Health-Environment Relationships: The Case of the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic. Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract The disciplinary boundary between anthropology and geography overlap in substantive areas of research; in particular, the study of human-environment relationships. Geography has contributed to this understanding by emphasizing the study of natural and human constructed phenomena relative to a spatial-temporal dimension. Geographers rely on tools and approaches that allow for visual, concrete, multiscale patterns of human activities and spatial behavior. Anthropology, on the other hand, has always highlighted theoretical approaches in the study of cultural and social phenomena. Anthropologists have been more proficient in the analysis of sociocultural systems, while geographers have displayed sophistication in the study of biogeophysical processes in understanding human-environmental relationships. The paper explores how the synthesis of different theoretical, empirical and disciplinary backgrounds can be incorporated into evaluating human-environment relationships; and how this expanded agenda may encourage more realistic policy making aimed at disease mitigation in general, and pesticide exposure prevention in particular. The paper makes a case for using multidisciplinary approaches for understanding these interactions in the context of pesticide exposure and human health, in terms understandable by and persuasive to others. In particular, the paper advocates that these interactions require ongoing interpretation of a web of causation; and understanding that pesticide exposure is more than the consequence of biogeophysical or sociocultural processes and conditions, but rather a combination of both. Key Words: Geography, anthropology, human-environment relationships, ecosystemic, sociocultural, biogeophysical, multidisciplinary.
No Time to Play: Children Farm Workers in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract Agrochemicals are under increasing scrutiny for their potential adverse health effects, especially on children living in homes or attending schools located in close proximity to pesticide sprayed fields. However, little attention has been given to children working in pesticide contaminated fields, and how their daily behavior and activities expose them to toxic agrochemicals. More alarmingly, health standards for determining exposure in children are based on the estimated risk to an adult male. This is of concern considering that children, given their physiologic structure and rapid metabolism (body size, weight, breathing rate, etc.), absorb more toxic chemicals than adults. Children eat, drink and breathe more per unit of body weight than adults. Children’s behavioral characteristics, such as hand-to-mouth contact, increases exposure risk. Children’s early life exposures to pesticides mean that they have more time to develop chronic diseases. Although child farm labor in many Third World countries is illegal, it is culturally accepted as a viable means to increase family income. Poor farm worker families face many social and economic hardships, forcing many parents to make decisions that jeopardize the health and safety of their children. The primary objective of this paper is to identify specific behaviors and activities that contribute to potential or actual pesticide exposure and adverse health events in children working in pesticide sprayed fields in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic. It offers recommendations for improving child health and well being in various settings. Key words: agrochemicals, child farm labor, health, pesticide exposure, and hand-to-mouth contact
Pathways of Contamination: Pesticide Exposure of School Children in the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez
A cross sectional study was conducted during the years 2001 to 2002 comparing the playground behavior of children attending different community schools of the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic, with contrasting proximity to pesticide sprayed fields. The studies were conducted among 119 school children aged 6-15. Pesticide-etiologic symptoms were recorded using health questionnaire and interviews. Dermal and clothing contact with contaminated spray, hand to mouth behavior, and hygienic practices, of school children, were observed and recorded during play activities. The study also identified school to home pesticide exposure pathways, and increased exposure in household members with no previous history of direct pesticide contact or exposure. Results showed a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms and illnesses in community schools located nearest pesticide sprayed fields after adjusting for potential confounding variables. The study acknowledges that, although pesticide chemicals are believed to be toxic and dangerous, further research is needed. This paper is attempting to fill a huge void of information on the effects of pesticide exposure in children in Third World countries. Most pesticide research has focused on adults, and as a result, healthcare providers must make assumptions when evaluating pesticide exposure pathways in children. The second phase of the study is pending funding and involves the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to track location and duration of pesticide application and playground activities of children during periods of heavy spraying. Key words: pesticides; agribusiness, organophosphates, children, farm workers, exposure pathways, symptoms, behavioral.
The Power of Pesticides: Politics, Health and the Environment in the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract Making ownership claims of land and water ensures that agricultural production will continue. Air is also a valuable resource, however, unlike water bodies and soil, it cannot be parceled out or fenced to demarcate ownership. When pesticides are released into the air, users and producers of these toxic chemicals are making claims upon resources, which are not inherently theirs. The research’s main analytical questions involve the relationship between agribusiness-agrochemical corporate power and landless farm workers and their households. The research turns to political economy and political ecology theory to help ask what role agribusiness and globalize agrochemical trade play in the pesticide exposure and human health equation in the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic. The paper examines the unequal power relationship and uneven development that exist between farm worker and the agribusiness class; focusing on how the latter use their privileged economic position to negate health and self-reliance of community members. The research emphasizes the health consequences of marginalization of the poor, institutional control over public health systems and the political-economic structural changes and policies that affect human health and environmental quality. It also recognizes both structure and agency, and the influence of interaction between different institutions and interest groups in influencing decision-making and shaping public health policy. Key Words: Marginalization, structures, mode of production, uneven development, pesticides, agency.
Culture, Health and Environment: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Evaluating Communities Exposed to Pesticides in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic.
Carlalynne C. Melendez Abstract The study examines the relationship between culture, human health, and the environment in four communities in the Constanza Region, Dominican Republic between 1998 and 2002. This paper suggests that multidisciplinary research centered on anthropological, biogeophysical, and epidemiological approaches can inform responses to diseases with pesticide exposure etiologies. Such an agenda requires identifying the factors that enhance human vulnerability to pesticide exposure. Moreover, the multidisciplinary approach is of even greater significance in providing a point of departure for considering ways for improving human health and environmental quality in response to the hazards and risks of pesticide exposure. The research in Constanza indicate that improving human health and environmental quality requires ongoing research and evaluation of changing biogeophysical conditions, politico-economic structures and public health systems, and their combined effects at the community, household and individual levels. The approach requires that lessons in using multidisciplinary strategies must be continuously fed back into human health and environmental quality improvement policy. It is intended that the recommendations and guidelines presented will contribute towards current policy making agendas and be further applied to real case studies. Key Words: Anthropology, geography, epidemiology, agrochemicals, health, folk medicine, human-environment relationships, multidisciplinary approach.
The Pesticide Curse: A Medical Anthropology Perspective to Understanding Culture and Illness in Communities Exposed to Environmental Contaminants. Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract The Constanza Valley is located in the rugged mountainous core of the Dominican Republic. The valley is the center for temperate vegetable crop production in the country. It is dominated by agribusiness farms, and a large number of farm worker families living in close proximity to pesticide sprayed fields. Human behavioral factors in pesticide exposure have been linked to specific activities at work, school and home. These activities are seen as potential risk factors that can increase the potential of exposure. Although many of the symptoms and illnesses reported by farm worker households are associated with pesticide poisoning, many seek the services of local folk healers, who prescribe herbs and incantations to heal illnesses thought to be caused by breaking culturally defined health taboos. These culturally prescribed beliefs and perceptions can influence the outcome of an adverse health event caused by pesticide exposure. Findings in the study indicate that many of the symptoms and illnesses attributed to supernatural forces have a pesticide exposure etiology. Although community members are aware of the offers of conventional medical treatment for their self-reported symptoms and illnesses, many opt for selecting non-biomedical treatment to obtain better health. The significance of these findings is that exposed individuals are delaying treatment for illnesses that can be prevented or cured. To understand the dynamics of pesticide exposure, the study incorporates multidisciplinary variables, that contribute to a broader and robust understanding of culture and illness in communities exposed to environmental contaminants. Key Words: pesticides; interdisciplinary, symptoms; supernatural illness; pesticide poisoning; households; agribusiness.
Poisoning Paradise: Pesticide Use in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
Melendez Abstract The environment is a composite of various biogeophysical processes and components that interact with each other as a system. Changes in any point of the system can eventually result in adjustments among the major components; these adjustments, in turn, may filter down to individual agents. When human activities, such as commercial agriculture, are introduced into the system, processes affecting change and adjustment are often greatly accelerated. Chemical-dependent commercial agriculture is quickly altering natural processes, which evolved through hundreds or even thousands of years, by increasing the amount of agrochemical toxins released into the environment. In the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic, the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals has resulted in severe contamination of air, water and soil. The valley, center for horticultural crop production in the Caribbean, is dominated by agribusiness farms, and a large number of communities located in close proximity to cultivated fields. Although the Dominican government hailed the agricultural transformation of the valley from traditional to agribusiness farming as an economic miracle, it failed to take into consideration the adverse environmental impacts. This paper examines the region’s biogeophysical characteristics and sensitive ecosystem and the impacts of commercial agriculture on the people, environment, and economy. Key Words: agrochemicals, intermountain, environmentally sensitive, commercial agriculture, biogeophysical processes, agribusiness, horticultural.
Taking Home the Poisons: Pesticide Exposure of Farm Workers in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract This paper examines the social, political and cultural contexts of pesticide exposure in farm workers and their families to facilitate an understanding of work-to-home exposure pathways. Farm worker exposure to carbamates and organochlorines pesticides in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic were examined. Dermal and clothing contact with contaminated spray and hygienic practices, of 110 farm workers, were observed during and after farm activities. Pesticide exposure pathways, from farm fields to homes, were identified and recorded. Pesticide-etiologic symptoms were recorded using health questionnaire and interviews. The study observed poor hygienic practices among farm workers in the field and inside their homes. Findings show that multiple exposure pathways exist, and are an additional source of contamination of household members who are not engaged in farm work or related activities. Results show that the severity level of self-reported symptoms in the homes of farm workers was three times that of non-farm workers. These findings support the hypothesis that pesticides and possibly other agrochemicals predispose farm workers and their non-farm worker households to pesticide caused illnesses. The study also focuses on the underlying mechanisms and prevention of pesticide exposure. Key words: pesticides, carbamates, organochlorines, farm workers, exposure pathways, symptoms.
Buffering the Poisons: Designing Health Buffer Zones to Mitigate Pesticide Drift and Improve Community Health Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract Tree buffer zones are areas of usually dense reforested strips that act to decrease the influences of farm activities on the health of farm households living in close proximity to field edge. Tree buffers will usually reduce the risk of agrochemical drift; protect crops and farmhouses from strong winds, and create a trap for wind-blown contaminated soil. The objective of this study was to create tree buffer zones to prevent or minimize pesticide spray drift from reaching dwelling structures and schools in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic. The study uses Geographical Information System (GIS) to perform site selection analysis with the specific task of locating pesticide hot spots and designing appropriate tree buffers. The principal hypothesis of the study is that tree buffer zones may be able to reduce or eliminate pesticide drift. The buffer design offered in this study is a model based on the biogeophysical, cultural and socioeconomic characteristics unique to the region. It is expected that creation of health buffers will lead to measurable improvements in environmental quality and human health in communities exposed to pesticides and other environmental contaminants. Key Words: Tree buffer zones, agrochemical drift, pesticides, environmental contaminants, health, Geographical Information System.
Unhealthy Politics: The Political Ecology of Pesticides in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract Key Words: Political ecology, anthropology, epidemiology, Third World, multidisciplinary approach, human-environment relationships, agro-science, globalization, community centered.
Using Local Knowledge, Beliefs and Perception to Understand Environmental Change in the Constanza Valley, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract Local people living in intermountain regions throughout the world have developed ways and means of understanding environmental change, which are interwoven into their cultural fabric. These peoples with a historical continuity of human-environment interactions often possess a broad knowledge base of how complex environmental systems function in their own localities. This location-specific knowledge has accumulated through long-term observations transmitted from generation to generation. Such localized qualitative observations can be of great value and may complement the scientific based quantitative observations of western science. It is important that the value of knowledge, beliefs and perceptions of local peoples, relating to localized environmental change, be fully recognized in order to better understand these processes at a global scale. The article addresses local knowledge and perceptions regarding temperature and precipitation change, loss of biodiversity, soil fertility, sustainability, human health and illness. The kinds of methods outlined in this paper will help enable local mountain people to contribute to the broader understanding of global environmental change, making it not only more holistic, but more realistic as well. The article concludes that local knowledge and perception can make significant contributions to scientific knowledge regarding human-environment interaction in general and environmental change in particular. Key Words: Environmental change, human-environment interaction, environmental systems, local knowledge, biodiversity, sustainability.
The Globalization of Agrochemicals: The Case of Constanza, Dominican Republic Carlalynne
C. Melendez Abstract This paper analyzes the globalization of the agrochemical trade via certain global political and economic processes, many of which have severe impacts on the environment. One of these processes is trade liberalization, which allow agrochemical corporations to dump their toxic products on unsuspecting Third World countries. This paper analyzes the globalization of the agrochemical trade and the consequent environmental impacts in the Dominican Republic. The study area is a good example of the type of analysis available in the literature and, consequently, serve the purpose of deriving some general conclusions. One of the conclusions is that the empirical evidence available in the literature on the adverse effects of pesticides on human health is tenuous. In fact, almost all the evidence presented corresponds to inferences obtained from animal research and accepted theoretical epidemiological models. Although, the research represents intelligent and logical deductions made by experts and scientists based on the best current information, the evidence is still fundamentally conjectural in nature and founded basically on informed judgments, and are not conformed by scientifically tested data from the real world. Moreover, this is not only the case with my study on the impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health in the Dominican Republic, but with practically all the studies conducted in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Against this backdrop, the paper presents appealing and concrete recommendation to achieve consensus for improving environmental quality and human health and promoting equitable community development. Key Words: Globalization, agrochemical trade, environment, trade liberalization policies, Third World, human health.
All material on this web page is copyright © 2003 Carlalynne C. Melendez. All rights are reserved. Any distribution of the material found on this web page is prohibited-unless it is explicitly stated otherwise.
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