Dominican Farms Still Use Highly Toxic Pesticides

[Ram]

Ok Im on the lets really check out the DR, why? because im headed there this winter, - I heard so much good news about the place, including all the great fruit and veggies- heres a little bit more reaility-

USAID report: Dominican farms still use highly toxic pesticides
DominicanToday.com - Dominican farms still use highly toxic pesticides, says the Report of Pesticide Evaluation and Plan of Action for their Safe Use, of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

[Therapy]

I wonder why they singled out Haitians?

[anjou]

245T is still available in many countries and despite having been banned 3 times since 1962 in the UK, it was still available in various guises up untill the late 80s to my knowledge. I knew one farmer who was stockpiling it to either use himself or sell on the black market

[ActiveCaptain]

Oh my...check out the number of pesticides registered by the US EPA. I'll bet there are at least as many allowed as the DR. European countries have been much more progressive about limiting pesticide use - not the US. In the US, 38 of 50 states aren't even allowed to limit pesticide use because of something called override/preemption laws:
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn...0Factsheet.pdf

In Maine, pesticide use is up 800% from 1995:
http://www.yardscaping.org/why/index.htm

Lawn use of pesticides is up 300% in the last 5 years. Think about that the next time you see beautiful lawns along the water's edge. Where do you think those pesticides drain off to? Luckily, most RO watermakers will filter pesticides picked up. That isn't the case for many (most?) municipal water supplies. What's even worse is that municipal water supplies aren't generally tested for most pesticides used in the vicinity (especially lawn pesticides). And yet this has (reportedly) nothing to do with increasing cancer rates, disappearing bee populations, or aquatic life reduction along coastal communities. There are some powerful lobbies at work here.

I'd bet that pesticide use in DR is not that much different than the US. What is different is that there are applicator requirements in the US to protect workers from exposure (OSHA, etc). In fact, it's probably the case that the DR fruits and vegetables available in the DR are also being sold in US grocery stores - they're just not as fresh in the US because they've been shipped here.