Many studies have shown a link between Syngenta pesticides such as atrazine and chlorpyrifos, with several serious diseases
In Hawaii, the climate allows four harvests per year. Therefore agrochemical multinationals like Monsanto or Syngenta are testing their products. In this open-air laboratory for GMO experimentation, they make heavy use of pesticides.
Ten times more birth defects identified in relation to the average in the US
A study of the Department of Obstetrics at the University of Hawaii published in September 2014 found a much higher rate of gastroschisis – terrible deformation of the abdominale- in Kauai than in the rest of the United States. Studies of the Universities of Texas, Indiana and Washington for their part, found a correlation between exposure to atrazine, a herbicide used on a large scale by Syngenta in Kauai, and the probability of giving birth to a child with this defect.
But this terrible unexplained illness is not the only one to have appeared in Kauai. Jim Raelson, a pediatrician practicing on the island since 2005, who has long worked at the hospital located just next to the school in Waimea, has a whole list. He has listed the Waimea hospital 10 times more serious heart defects in newborns than the national average.
Several colleagues share his fears and identified diseases that come a little too often, such as ear malformations, asthma, hyperactivity, autism, club feet, kidney problems, nosebleeds … Many studies have shown a link between pesticides used by Syngenta in Waimea, such as atrazine, chlorpyrifos, permethrin and paraquat, and several of these conditions.
A law removes the island’s competence to legislate on pesticides
Kauai residents have decided to rise against Syngenta practices on their island and were able to validate an anti-pesticide law. But the Swiss group reacted immediately and put double overtime to fight against the law with lobbying and expensive media campaigns, not hesitating to shake the specter of unemployment among the local population and to represent itself as world hunger activist … The group won a first round of elections in November 2014 and manage to validate a law removing the competence of the island to legislate on pesticides!
Fortunately the inhabitants of the largest island of Hawaii have not said their last word and succeeded last December, following a passionate popular debate, to prohibit any GMOs’ cultivation and breeding within its territory, all plants and animals alike.
France is the first European pesticide user and the third country in the world
As the first European user of pesticides and third country in the world, France is also very concerned by the subject. An excellent report produced by Cash Investigation and broadcasted this Tuesday night allowed number of French to become aware of the urgency to fight against the excessive use of pesticides that generate risk of tumors, malformations, developmental delays or autism on children.
The brilliant journalist Elise Lucet and her team conducted the investigation on the impact of pesticides on children, from France to Hawaii, through rural California, without hesitation to force the doors, either at a meeting of Bayer shareholders in Cologne or a dinner with french politicians organized by Syngenta. An outstanding and essential work that we welcome.
