Researcher sounds alarm over herbicide in disease-ravaged Nong Bua Lamphu

By SURASAK KRUAKHAM 
THE NATION 

 

 

A RESEARCH team has raised concerns about high concentrations of Paraquat, a widely used herbicide that is harmful to humans, in some areas of Nong Bua Lamphu’s Suwannakhuha district.

 

“We have already raised the issue with the Nong Bua Lamphu governor and public health chief,” Assoc Professor Puangrat Kajitvichyanukul from Naresuan University said earlier this week. 

 

She spoke out after her team collected soil and water samples in Ban Khlong Charoen sub-district.

 

 

Last year, at least 102 people in Nong Bua Lamphu came down with Necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. Six of them died from the disease. 

 

“Although our findings cannot yet confirm the link between the disease and Paraquat, we have found this a cause for concern,” Puangrat said.

 

An exposure to Paraquat can cause burns, wounds and blisters. 

 

Puangrat said she had decided to speak out about finding high concentrations of Paraquat in Ban Khlong Charoen sub-district before her research concluded because she felt urgent action must be taken.

 

“A local reservoir is surrounded by sugarcane and rubber plantations,” she said. 

 

Local residents also did not use proper tap-water filters because they believed the use of filters slowed the water flow. 

 

She added that her team had found that farmers often used concentrations of the chemical that were four to eight times greater than what was recommended on labels. 

 

Puangrat said she hoped relevant agencies would act quickly to address the problem, because farmers generally started using chemicals at their farms beginning in April. 

 

Her team conducted the research through a collaboration of her university, the Nong Bua Maphu Public Health Office and a local research-promotion office. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30340062

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-03

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Last year, at least 102 people in Nong Bua Lamphu came down with Necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. Six of them died from the disease. 

I'm guessing the other 96 later died from pufferfish !

Is this part of the attempt to become a hub for organic rice, herbs, and veggies?

When Thailand will ban those chemicals that are illegal in the rest of the world?

Very often it's the accumulation of many factors that cause disease plus the one that breaks the camel's back.

Then that one gets the whole blame for the problem.

I hope that these researchers will do an in depth study into all the environmental pollutants in that area and not just focus on paraquat

 

Additionally the local diet may have an effect.

As much as what they eat as to what nutrients they are not getting.

What are the obesity/ diabetes/ dementure/ heart conditions rates etc?

Thais use to make their own insect repellent out of chillies and garlic.  Also if you have no flowering plants you have no lady bugs.  Lady bugs eat pests.  All are preferable to paraquat. 

15 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

When Thailand will ban those chemicals that are illegal in the rest of the world?

the Thai government bans stuff on a near daily basis - it's just that no agency checks or enforces them, except for political bans that is.

Here is an example about the procedure and measures to expect:

06.01.2015 - Thailand - Asbestos was banned in Germany in 1993 because of health hazards, in 2005 throughout the European Union. In Thailand, however, it is denied that asbestos is dangerous. The cabinet rejected a ban request.

18 minutes ago, laislica said:

Very often it's the accumulation of many factors that cause disease plus the one that breaks the camel's back.

Then that one gets the whole blame for the problem.

I hope that these researchers will do an in depth study into all the environmental pollutants in that area and not just focus on paraquat

 

Additionally the local diet may have an effect.

As much as what they eat as to what nutrients they are not getting.

What are the obesity/ diabetes/ dementure/ heart conditions rates etc?

Really? You think diet and diabetes and the other things you mention may somehow contribute to people being attacked by a flesh eating bacteria?

This diagnosis of the cause of the disease is highly suspect. 

 

How is it contracted?

As with many infectious diseases, three factors interact to produce an infection: factors related to the bacteria; factors related to the patient; and factors relating to the environment that brings them together – in this case, the nature of the injury. Patient factors associated with infection include impaired immunity, obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes. Many patients report a preceding breach in the skin, through things such as surgery, accidental wounds, or intravenous drug use. 

 

http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-causes-necrotising-fasciitis-the-flesh-eating-bug-49369

 

 

1 minute ago, Lee4Life said:

Really? You think diet and diabetes and the other things you mention may somehow contribute to people being attacked by a flesh eating bacteria?

Have trouble understanding English?

I forgive you as English may not be your first language.

 

If other disease rates are high, it may not just be the paraquat as the cause.

Where do you think that I made any suggestion that the diseases I mentioned have anything to do with a flesh eating disease?

8 minutes ago, laislica said:

Have trouble understanding English?

I forgive you as English may not be your first language.

 

If other disease rates are high, it may not just be the paraquat as the cause.

Where do you think that I made any suggestion that the diseases I mentioned have anything to do with a flesh eating disease?

No trouble understanding English...and I'm not asking forgiveness. The article stated that they were investigating Paraquat as a possible link to cases of death caused by flesh eating disease, and your comment was made in the thread following the article so I assumed you were talking about something related to this article.

    Please explain why it was wrong of me to assume that?   

Even if the ban is at national level but who cares? Anybody can just do anything they like anywhere in their villages.

56 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

When Thailand will ban those chemicals that are illegal in the rest of the world?

When pigs fly.

 

I am not sure if the people here either don't care about the chemicals and diseases, or they are uneducated and ignorant about the dangers.

 

I often see the farmers spraying chemicals on the crops.. with no protection at all, only a pair of wellies.  They are breathing the stuff in, and getting it all over their skin.  

 

 

53 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

When Thailand will ban those chemicals that are illegal in the rest of the world?

This one iis banned in many places, but there are problems with others in the West. On the other hand, farmers in the west might be a little bit better at reading the dosage, not because they car emore about people, but because they do not want to pay for more of the stuff. The neoliberal wheel, no government regulations for corporations, is creating lots of problems from banks that are investing, corruption (sorry, lobbyism) (of course), and poor electoral systems,... we all suffer. Well! The poorer you are the more you do, but I digress.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

When Thailand will ban those chemicals that are illegal in the rest of the world?

Except it is not illegal in the rest of the world, only most of it, but still legal in US for example.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/business/paraquat-weed-killer-pesticide.html

And when they burn the fields, EVERYONE --RICH, POOR, AND those in between-- get sick, ... eventually! It is a double-whammy! Free smoking with an added dose to get you sick faster! No problem. There are lots of drugs you can take to keep you alive and keep paying for the drugs, the mia-noy, and the Benz of the hospital staff. 

 

How many doctors are out there raising a stink?

 

NONE!

 

But, they might be forced to breathe the stuff anyway, although they are probably all taking a break somewhere safe near a beach.

 

Poetic (in)JUSTICE?

There are many toxins affecting the farmers, household and otherwise. An inordinate number of cancer cases occur in rural areas as well.  This is not an infectious disease, it is a post-modern man-made holocaust. Add to this stress, alcohol, tobacco and 7/11, and one makes catastrophe. Such is life eh? 

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

She added that her team had found that farmers often used concentrations of the chemical that were four to eight times greater than what was recommended on labels.

 

Now there's a surprise... not.

" Paraquat is banned in many countries: Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Malaysia and etc. Despite this the European Commission’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved the use of paraquat in European Union countries, despite the disagreement of some of them."

 

Another reason for Brexit!!!

When is the next training course for agricultural workers in the handling of pesticides and herbicides?

It cannot be assumed that the reading and mathematical skills are there to mix solutions correctly and to use them safely.

I know this sounds condescending, but it is step one in handling such toxic materials.

 

50 minutes ago, OmarZaid said:

There are many toxins affecting the farmers, household and otherwise. An inordinate number of cancer cases occur in rural areas as well.  This is not an infectious disease, it is a post-modern man-made holocaust. Add to this stress, alcohol, tobacco and 7/11, and one makes catastrophe. Such is life eh? 

 

Such is life ?

 

I'd say such is a world where corporations like Monsanto (biotechnologies) have a turnover that's bigger than countries such as Iceland, Guinea, Rwanda, Kirghiztan or Mongolia... And Monsanto, giant that it is,  is 'only' 1/3rd of Nestlé (agri-food industry) and 1/7th of BASF (chemicals, approx 100 billion dollars pr year).

 

I strongly recommend reading Noam Chomsky's book "Who Rules the World?" .... and the answer is not life.

 

 

There has been some interesting replies on this thread.  One thing that piqued my curiosity, is if anyone has studied the smoke produced, from the burning of these fields throughout LOS.  We keep hearing about farmers use, misuse and abuse of the various chemicals.  We are all aware of the crazy smoke from burning fields.   There are days when the smoke will choke me up a bit, irritate the eyes, etc etc.  I always shrug it off as ....hey, it's just a bit smoke.   But what exactly is this smoke carrying as far as chemical content...anyone hazard an educated guess?   Should a farrang get "out of Dodge" during the burn season....or safe "enough" to just suck it up?

2 minutes ago, CanuckThai said:

There has been some interesting replies on this thread.  One thing that piqued my curiosity, is if anyone has studied the smoke produced, from the burning of these fields throughout LOS.  We keep hearing about farmers use, misuse and abuse of the various chemicals.  We are all aware of the crazy smoke from burning fields.   There are days when the smoke will choke me up a bit, irritate the eyes, etc etc.  I always shrug it off as ....hey, it's just a bit smoke.   But what exactly is this smoke carrying as far as chemical content...anyone hazard an educated guess?   Should a farrang get "out of Dodge" during the burn season....or safe "enough" to just suck it up?

Easy to give advice when you don't live there, but it certainly doesn't sound too healthy - if you don't have pressing reasons to stay, personally, I would "get outta town" for a while! 

1 hour ago, OmarZaid said:

An inordinate number of cancer cases occur in rural areas as well.  This is not an infectious disease, it is a post-modern man-made holocaust.

Indeed!

 

The number of young adults with cancer, many of them dying, is frightening.

Obviously, there are no (published) statistics regarding this scourge, but it is there, and growing fast...

Nonsense comments.. I worked on research project about DDT and paraquat in particular just after I left school 40 years ago. It definately affects human immune systems and its responses (autoimmune). I would expect a very strong physical link could be formed between cause and affect in this case.

9 minutes ago, CanuckThai said:

There has been some interesting replies on this thread.  One thing that piqued my curiosity, is if anyone has studied the smoke produced, from the burning of these fields throughout LOS.  We keep hearing about farmers use, misuse and abuse of the various chemicals.  We are all aware of the crazy smoke from burning fields.   There are days when the smoke will choke me up a bit, irritate the eyes, etc etc.  I always shrug it off as ....hey, it's just a bit smoke.   But what exactly is this smoke carrying as far as chemical content...anyone hazard an educated guess?   Should a farrang get "out of Dodge" during the burn season....or safe "enough" to just suck it up?

Maybe you'd be better off in Libya during the burning field season...or maybe not...

52 minutes ago, sambum said:

" Paraquat is banned in many countries: Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Malaysia and etc. Despite this the European Commission’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved the use of paraquat in European Union countries, despite the disagreement of some of them."

 

Another reason for Brexit!!!

There was a minor misunderstanding.

Juncker was drunk as usual, and his assistant thought the issue was about parakeet...parakeet, paraquat, sounds very much the same.

So the assistant, a bird lover, recommended the approval and here we are...

This is a case where the narrative seems to be getting ahead of the facts.  Make no mistake - paraquat is bad stuff and probably should be banned.  However, the facts as presented here are not consistent with paraquat poisoning.  Paraquat’s Toxicity is primarily in the lungs where it can cause a slow and painful asphyxiation, which is why I think it should be banned.  It does not, however, cause a flesh eating disease.  Also, it is not surprising that they found high concentrations in the soil.  In the environment paraquat binds tightly to soil and does not degrade.  It also does not get into water.  So while I would love to see another nail in its coffin this case does not seem to be on point.

3 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

There was a confusion!

Juncker was drunk as usual, and his assistant thought the issue was about parakeet...parakeet, paraquat, sounds very much the same.

So the assistant, an animal lover, recommended the approval and here we are...

Maybe the assistant was a Grouse lover!