Fumigations in Colombia
Fumigations in Colombia: Just What are we Eradicating?
[1]In an effort to stop
the illicit drug trade, the Colombian
government has been spraying coca and opium
poppy since 1986. With the beginning of the
US-supported Plan Colombia in 2000, aerial
fumigation was intensified: spraying is now
done more often, over more land, and with a
more potent chemical mix. [2]
This mix contains an herbicide called
glyphosate, and two substances—POEA and
Cosmoflux 411F—that make the mix stick to
whatever surface it touches. The US company
Monsanto manufactures glyphosate under the name
“Roundup Ultra,” but neither this particular
combination, nor the concentration at which it
is being used in Colombia, have ever been
tested. While the joint US-Colombian policy is
officially being called a success, many people
are concerned about the short and long term
damages of fumigations—especially because it's
not just illegal drug crops that are being
affected. Food crops, animals, tropical
forests, rivers, and people are also being
sprayed.
“They're not Isolated Cases”
Eduardo Grados was shaking when he said: “I only went to school for one year and I've never done scientific research.” [3] But many children in his southern Colombian community are born with defects, and he knows something is wrong. One baby was missing three fingers. Eduardo's own daughter was born without an ear. “People would say that I forgot to finish making her,” he says, laughing nervously.
But Eduardo is serious when he says that someone should come investigate what is happening in his community: “These are not isolated cases—there are just too many of them.” Eduardo thinks these defects, and many other illnesses in his community, are caused by Colombia 's aerial fumigations meant to eradicate coca and opium poppy fields. He's worried about what other effects they might be having.
This is one child's depiction
of the aerial spraying against illicit drug
crops. The drawing shows the fumigation planes;
a child with sores on his body; banana, corn,
and coffee plants with yellowed leaves; dead
fish, birds, chickens, and horses; and the
coffin of his younger sibling.
| This is one child's
depiction of the aerial spraying against
illicit drug crops. The drawing shows the
fumigation planes; a child with sores on his
body; banana, corn, and coffee plants with
yellowed leaves; dead fish, birds, chickens,
and horses; and the coffin of his younger
sibling. (Courtesy of Adolfo Maldonado) |
Fumigations, a Genetic Risk?
The Ecuadorian organization Acción Ecológica is worried, too. [4] With the aid of a doctor of tropical medicine, Acción Ecológica recently presented a report on the genetic damages caused by aerial fumigations. [5] They found a direct connection between fumigations and genetic damage.
Blood samples were given by 47 different women, divided into two groups. The first group included 22 women living along the Colombia-Ecuador border (see map) who had been exposed to the fumigations and showed signs of chemical intoxication. Twelve of the women are from Colombia —where fumigations take place, and ten are from Ecuador —where there are no fumigations, but where wind blows the chemicals over the border. The second group was the control group: 25 Ecuadorian women living 50 miles (80 km.) into Ecuador. Women were chosen for the investigation because they work less with pesticides and herbicides, and therefore have less contact with genetically toxic materials. None of the women in the exposed group work with agrichemicals, which means the chemicals they are exposed to come from fumigations.
The investigation is scientifically sound. Acción Ecológica considered everything that could possibly affect the test, including the women's age, fertility, ethnic group, work habits, exposure time to fumigations, and family cancer and disease history. Women in both groups show similar health histories, with 70% enjoying normal health. Previous illnesses are also similar in both groups and include diabetes, heart problems, allergies, and hepatitis. However, two women affected by the fumigations were diagnosed with cancer in the last year and underwent treatment.
| Comet test showing genetic damage in blood cells |
Discovering the Damage
Once the samples were collected, they underwent a “comet test” to detect damage to the genetic material (DNA). In this test, blood cells are exposed to a magnetic field. The cells become more like a “comet” when they have greater numbers of broken DNA chains. This pictureshows the results of a comet test. Cell “A” is normal, with no damage. [6] Cell “B” has low levels of damage. Cells “C” and “D” have medium and high levels of damage, respectively. The “E” cells, looking most like comets, have very high levels of DNA damage.
The average results of the comet test for all of the women in the exposed group (those along either side of the Colombia-Ecuador border) were startling. More than one-third of their blood cells showed medium to very high levels of damage: cells that look like cells “C”, “D”, and “E”. This damage is nine times greater than what geneticists consider normal. One young woman's genetic damage reached 21 times the normal level. Numbers for the control group, meanwhile, were normal.
What does this mean?
The results of Acción Ecológica's investigation prove that aerial fumigations are causing serious, potentially long term, genetic damage among people living in areas being fumigated directly (in Colombia), and also in areas to where the wind spreads the chemicals (in Ecuador, along the border with Colombia). In the words of Acción Ecológica, continued fumigations “could raise the risk of cell damage that, once permanent, would increase cases of cancer and serious fetal and birth defects that, among other possibilities, would increase the number of miscarriages in the region.” In point of fact, the young woman with cell damage 21 times the normal level is currently undergoing treatment for uterine cancer.
The US State Department and the Colombian government insist that their “crop eradication” campaign presents no serious risk to Colombia 's environment or its people. But an important question is just what is being eradicated? Acción Ecológica has revealed that fumigations are destroying human cells—proving one part of what many Colombian farmers living in fumigated areas have known for years: fumigations negatively affect people's health. The investigation is being used by organizations like the AFSC to mobilize people and organizations—in Colombia, Ecuador, and beyond—against fumigations.
As one Colombian said: “We often feel so impotent in the face of such a big beast that wants to devour us. But we have the power to speak out through the organizations that support us, and the more people who know about what's really happening, the more success we will have in recuperating the dignity of our lives.”
1. This article was written by Gretchen Alther, a volunteer intern with the AFSC in Bogotá, Colombia .
2. An aid package originally passed in 2000 by the US Congress with the goal of reducing and eventually eliminating Colombia 's production of illicit crops. In 2002, the package was expanded to allow Colombian public forces to use US military aid for counter-insurgency purposes.
3. This name has been changed for security reasons. Comments were collected during a regional conference on the effects of fumigations in Colombia , held in Popayan ( Cauca , Colombia ) on December 3-4, 2003.
4. The Ecuadorian environmental organization Acción Ecológica is a member of the Inter-institutional Committee against Fumigations (CIF). CIF comprises concerned organizations in Ecuador and Colombia , including the AFSC offices both these countries.
5. Acción Ecológica. November 2003. “Daño genético en la Frontera de Ecuador por las Fumigaciones del Plan Colombia ” (“Genetic Damage on the Ecuadorian Border caused by the Fumigations of Plan Colombia ”)
6. Photo courtesy of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory (PUCE) in Quito, Ecuador. Note that the photo is an example of what comet tests results may look like—it is not a photo of the actual tests made in this investigation.