Latest news with #Dormex
IOL News
12-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Women on Farms Project calls for urgent ban on cyanamide pesticide
Farmworkers Women farm workers and dwellers march to Philagro's office in Somerset West to hand over a memorandum demanding a complete and immediate end to the production, export and use of cyanamide/Dormex for agricultural purposes amid serious health concerns. Image: Supplied AGRICULTURE Minister John Steenhuisen has yet to disclose how his office would deal with increasing calls for a complete and immediate end to the production, export and use of cyanamide/Dormex for agricultural purposes, amid serious health risks to farmworkers. Cyanamide, a Highly Hazardous Pesticide (HHP), according to Women on Farms Project (WFP) had lost its approval in the European Union since 2008, but is still produced by Alzchem in Germany from where it is exported to countries in the global South, including South Africa. In South Africa, cyanamide is distributed by Philagro on behalf of Alzchem, according to WFP. A memorandum by Women on Farms project is accepted by Schalk Reynolds from Philagro. Image: Supplied Scores of women farm workers and dwellers recently marched to Philagro's office in Somerset West to hand over a memorandum for the attention of Alzchem Group AG, to highlight their concerns. 'In 2019, WFP, a feminist South African non-governmental organisation, undertook a desk-top study which found that 67 pesticides that are already banned in Europe are still exported to and used in South Africa. Since the launch of its Double Standards campaign, WFP has been lobbying the South African government to ban these pesticides, while also demanding that European companies like Alzchem stop the production and export of pesticides that have been banned in the European Union because they are so harmful to human health. "Farmwomen have stated that it is unjust that farm workers in South Africa, the majority of whom are women, are exposed to pesticides that have been banned in Europe," said WFP. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ WFP lamented that many farm women were exposed to Dormex/cyanamide without proper training, no proper protective equipment, were also not guaranteed water to wash their hands or even a toilet to relieve themselves while working. 'The European Food and Safety Authority (2010) found that even when proper protective equipment, masks, gloves, visors, hoods and rubber boots are used; operator exposure estimates exceeded acceptable levels by 6433%. The situation in South Africa is particularly dire as there is widespread non-compliance with the South African occupational health and safety legislation and a persistent lack of effective enforcement by labour inspectors,' the organisation added. They want a formal meeting with Alzchem to discuss their concerns.
Euronews
06-04-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Dying for a glass of wine? South African farm workers fight EU's ‘toxic trade' in pesticides
ADVERTISEMENT Dina Ndelini had been working on vineyards around Cape Town for more than 40 years when she was suddenly struck with breathlessness. A trip to the hospital quickly spiralled into a series of events which saw her lose her health, her job and, along with it, her home. According to her doctor, the most likely culprit was exposure to a chemical concoction known as Dormex. Commonly used as a plant growth regulator in South Africa its active ingredient, cyanamide, has been described as highly dangerous by the EU Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and banned in the EU since 2009. Despite this, Dormex is just one on a long list of highly hazardous chemicals which continue to be produced on European soil and sold to third countries. Food made abroad using these chemicals is then imported to be sold on Europe's supermarket shelves. Related Dead hedgehogs reveal PCB pollution still haunts the environment decades after ban The EU and UK exported 1,000 tonnes of a banned pesticide to poorer countries, investigation reveals Dina's was one of the many stories shared by farm workers as well as legal and health professionals at a recent People's Tribunal on Agrotoxins , which took place in the heart of the world-renowned wine region of Stellenbosch on 21-23 March. While not a formal court, these community-led tribunals provide a space for those impacted to share their testimonies in front of expert judges to consider allegations of international law violations, including environmental and human rights. South African farm workers urge Europe to stop sending 'poisons' Asked for her message to Europe, Dina was clear. 'We say as farm workers, enough is enough - we don't want anymore these pesticides from Europe,' she says, urging the bloc to 'stop sending us its poisons'. The sentiment was echoed many times over the course of the two-day tribunal, with farm workers taking the stand to share their stories of the impact of pesticide exposure on their lives, from lung damage, to ovarian cancer and impaired vision. 'If it's not good enough for Europeans, why do they think it's good enough for us?' says another farm worker, who wished to remain anonymous, adding that European consumers should know 'the human reality behind the wine they are drinking'. Mekie Piet, another farm worker, shares her testimony on the impact of toxic pesticides. Natasha Foote According to the African Centre for Biodiversity, 192 highly hazardous pesticides are still legally in use in South Africa , 57 of which are banned for use in the EU. Some are neurotoxic or cancer-causing, while others are considered acutely toxic for the environment. Those on the frontline of exposure are the farm workers and their families living in the vicinity of spraying, who fall on the lowest rung of the country's complex wealth and power inequalities, rooted in its apartheid past. Commonly overworked, underpaid, and poorly protected on precarious contracts, farm workers have very little say in the running of these farms, managed by wealthy landowner boers ('farmers'). Those most at risk are women, who are both biologically more susceptible to pesticide exposure and more vulnerable in South African societies, according to South Africa's Women on Farms project (WFP), an NGO working to protect women farm workers in the Western and Northern Cape. Throughout the tribunal, workers repeatedly said personal protective equipment was not provided to them, with many testifying that women commonly bring scarves to cover their faces while they work. Others reported having no access to running water or toilets on the vineyards. Related US has exited climate deal that helps developing nations switch to green energy, South Africa says Belgium, France, Germany: Pesticide giants are exporting banned chemicals through European loopholes Banned pesticide exports a 'blatant double standard' Attempts to align trade standards are in the spotlight in Brussels, with the publication of a new EU policy roadmap for agriculture setting out plans to restrict food imports from third countries with residues of pesticides banned in Europe. This is not the first time that the EU has considered such a move, with murmurings that the Commission may stop the export of banned pesticides circulating for years. ADVERTISEMENT But the plans face staunch opposition from agroindustry groups, including pesticide lobby CropLife, which has long argued that these pesticides are necessary in certain circumstances. 'The production realities of South African agriculture are vastly different, so it is difficult to compare to other countries and regions,' CropLife South Africa said in a statement following the tribunal. It maintains that different crops, pests and climatic conditions require 'different solutions and pesticides at different times'. This argument does not hold weight for UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Dr Marcos Orellana. 'The human body is the same everywhere - what differs is the lack of capacity of the government institutions to deal with the risks imposed on people in vulnerable situations,' he says, calling it a 'blatant double standard'. Related Despite insect protection laws, EU has authorised dozens of dangerous pesticides, new report finds 'We are the first impacted by climate change': Why Europe's rural farmers support green policies International protections a 'tick box' exercise South Africa does have legal systems governing the use of such chemicals and is working towards a phase-out of highly hazardous pesticides in the near future, but tribunal participants argued that enforcement is often lacking. Meanwhile, farm workers are often unaware of or reluctant to advocate for their rights. ADVERTISEMENT For the UN's Orellana, the argument that governments are sovereign to make their own decisions 'underscores [the] lack of capacities in many, if not most, developing countries involved in international trade of pesticides' and excludes the issue of 'corruption and corporate capture of the government institutions that make these decisions'. The community-led tribunal provided a space for those impacted to come together and share their testimonies in front of expert judges. Natasha Foote More widely, an international treaty called the Rotterdam Convention is designed to encourage informed decision-making by countries that trade in hazardous chemicals. But for Dr Andrea Rother, head of the environmental health division at the University of Cape Town, the convention is too cumbersome to be effective. 'By the time a pesticide gets listed, they are often obsolete,' she says, adding that the convention is 'more of a rubber stamping, 'tickbox' exercise' than a true safeguard mechanism. Pointing out that no African country manufactures its own pesticide ingredients, Rother maintains a ban on the EU side would be a 'huge help' for South Africa. ADVERTISEMENT 'There are alternatives to these pesticides,' she says, arguing that such an export ban could be a 'catalyst' towards more sustainable agricultural systems . For WFP's campaigns coordinator, Kara MacKay, each day that the EU continues the production and export of these EU-banned chemicals to South Africa is another that it is 'complicit in the daily pesticide poisoning of farm workers and dwellers'. 'We must end this toxic trade - to argue any differently reveals a racist and colonial thinking that is unjustified,' she says. In the meantime, the expert judges adjudicating the People's Tribunal will evaluate the evidence presented by Dina and the rest of the farm workers, before offering their verdict and legal advice in a few months time. ADVERTISEMENT
