Evolution And History

Globalization, Health, and Structural Violence 319

Biocultural Connection

Picturing Pesticides

The toxic effects of pesticides have long

been known. After all, these compounds

are designed to kill bugs. However, doc-

umenting the toxic effects of pesticides

on humans has been more difficult, as

they are subtle—sometimes taking years

to become apparent.

Anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette,

working in a Yaqui Indian community in

Mexico, combined ethnographic observa-

tion, biological monitoring of pesticide

levels in the blood, and neurobehavioral

testing to document the impairment

of child development by pesticides.a

Working with colleagues from the

Technological Institute of Sonora in

Obregón, Mexico, Guillette compared

children and families from two Yaqui

communities: one living in farm val-

leys who were exposed to large doses of

pesticides and one living in ranching vil-

lages in the foothills nearby.

Guillette documented the frequency of

pesticide use among the farming Yaqui to

be forty-five times per crop cycle with two

crop cycles per year. In the farming val-

leys she also noted that families tended

to use household bug sprays on a daily

basis, thus increasing their exposure to

toxic pesticides. In the foothill ranches,

she found that the only pesticides that

the Yaqui were exposed to consisted

of DDT sprayed by the government to

control malaria. In these communities,

indoor bugs were swatted or tolerated.

Pesticide exposure was linked to

child health and development through

two sets of measures. First, levels

of pesticides in the blood of valley

children at birth and throughout their

childhood were examined and found to

be far higher than in the children from

the foothills. Further, the presence of

pesticides in breast milk of nursing

mothers from the valley farms was also

documented. Second, children from the

two communities were asked to perform

a variety of normal childhood activities,

such as jumping, memory games, play-

ing catch, and drawing pictures.

The children exposed to high doses

of pesticides had significantly less

stamina, eye–hand coordination, large

motor coordination, and drawing ability

compared to the Yaqui children from the

foothills. These children exhibited no

overt symptoms of pesticide poisoning—

instead exhibiting delays and impair-

ment in their neurobehavioral abilities

that may be irreversible.

Though Guillette’s study was thor-

oughly embedded in one ethnographic

community, she emphasizes that the

exposure to pesticides among the

Yaqui farmers is typical of agricul-

tural communities globally and has

significance for changing human prac-

tices regarding the use of pesticides

everywhere.

BIOCULTURAL QUESTION

Given the documented developmental

damage these pesticides have inflicted

on children, should their sale and use

be regulated globally? Are there poten-

tially damaging toxins in use in your

community?

a Guillette, E. A., et al. (1998, June). An

anthropological approach to the evalu-

ation of preschool children exposed to

pesticides in Mexico. Environmental

Health Perspectives 106, 347.

Pacific

Ocean

MEXICO

UNITED STATES

Yaqui

River

Foothills

60-month-old

female

71-month-old

male

71-month-old

female

71-month-old

male

Valley

Compare the drawings typically done by Yaqui children heavily exposed to pesticides (valley) to those made by

Yaqui children living in nearby areas who were relatively unexposed (foothills).

Courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth A. Guillette

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