Last July, about 250 students from Pis-anan Central Elementary School and Pis-anan National High School in Antique province experienced fainting spells, media reports said. They were promptly taken to hospitals after reportedly inhaling toxic fumes, which they likened to the smell of “rotten guava.”
According to the toxicology report from the Department of Health’s Toxicology Specialty Center at the Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital, it was determined that the school premises were contaminated with a pesticide known as cypermethrin.
Cypermethrin is known to degrade quickly in soil and on plants; however, it can remain effective for several weeks when applied to inert surfaces indoors. This insecticide is non-systemic and non-volatile, functioning through contact and ingestion, and is utilized in both agricultural practices and pest control products.
The toxicology report revealed that the clinical symptoms observed, such as difficulty in breathing, severe chest pains, vomiting, and chills, were “all consistent with acute exposure to pyrethroid pesticides.”
Sibalom Mayor Gian Carlo Occeña speculated that the incident was “most likely due to airborne pesticide drift exacerbated by weather conditions.”
This “mass poisoning” attracted the attention of the Penang-based Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP), which characterized cypermethrin as a “highly hazardous pesticide (HHP),” emphasizing that the presence of this pesticide in and around the school is profoundly alarming and unacceptable.
The PANAP classified cypermethrin as a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that belongs to the Terrible Twenty, a list of the most toxic pesticides that pose severe threats to children.
“This chemical is known to be acutely toxic, especially to children, and is associated with a range of adverse health effects, including respiratory distress, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, immunotoxicity, and long-term impacts such as increased risk of breast cancer and male reproductive disorders,” explained Sarojeni Rengam, PANAP executive director. “It’s link to Parkinson’s disease further emphasizes the grave consequences of exposure.”
PANAP urges the Philippine government to immediately phase out HHPs, including cypermethrin, and replace them with safe, sustainable, and community-driven agroecological practices.
Filipinos use pesticides to annihilate pests and diseases. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that up to 35 percent of the losses in annual crop production worldwide are due to pests – insects, weeds, plant diseases, rodents, and birds. Of the estimated one million insects in the world, between 150 to 200 species frequently cause serious damage to crops.
When losses due to pests are combined together with post-harvest losses, worldwide food losses would amount to 45 percent. “This is almost one half of the world’s potential food supply,” the United Nations food agency surmised.
The Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority defines pesticide as “any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi or weeds, or any other form of life declared to be pest.” It also refers to “any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.”
Pesticides are classified according to their degree of danger. The pesticide’s label should give a warning notice in the shape of a symbol. Skull and crossbones on the label means that the pesticide is extremely or highly toxic. A highly toxic pesticide may be lethal when an adult ingests less than a teaspoon.
The first records of pesticides come from the ancient Greeks. Pliny the Elder compiled a list of common compounds like arsenic, sulfur, caustic soda, and olive oil used to protect crops. The Chinese later recorded using similar substances to combat insects and fungi. In the 19th century, European farmers started using heavy metal salts like copper sulphate and iron sulphate to fight weeds.
With the introduction of new pesticides, scientists reported unprecedented increases in crop yields. Farmers began to use pesticides extensively in industrialized nations and, where finances permitted, in other regions as well. This led to the belief that pesticides are crucial for modern, high-yield agriculture.
For an extended period, the safety of pesticides went largely unchallenged. It was not until 1962 that marine biologists and author Rachel Carson published the now-renowned Silent Spring. In her book, she detailed how pesticides pose long-term risks to birds, fish, other wildlife, and humans, while only offering short-term benefits in pest control.
Health experts claim pesticides can enter the human body through the lungs, digestive system, or skin. Depending on the kind of pesticide, health effects can be immediate (acute) or they can occur after years of low-level exposure.
Generally, acute poisoning occurs after an accident such as pilling a bottle of pesticide on the skin or drinking from a bottle containing pesticides. The symptoms of acute poisoning occur within 24 hours: vomiting, headache, respiratory problems, and heart failure, among others.
Long-term effects of pesticides include skin disorders, damage to internal organs (particularly liver, kidneys, and lungs), increased sensitivity to pesticides and effects on the progeny.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) reports that three people are poisoned by pesticides every minute around the world. All in all, about 10,000 die annually of pesticides.
Dr. Susan Cooper, an ecologist with the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, contends that scientists still hardly understand the effects of exposure to one chemical, and they have little idea what happens when people are exposed to many. “The risks could be worse than we think,” she said.
