Ironically, the original sludge is created as part of a water pollution control process to
prevent waste chemicals from entering an aquatic environment, Green Bay’s Fox
River. However, the GranTek pellets are spread back into wetlands and other aquatic
environments in an effort to kill mosquitoes. This is a complete circle. The paper
company sludge is contaminated with PCBs, dioxins, toxic metals, and a host of
other toxic substances, but people who buy and use the mosquito insecticide will
never know this. GranTek pellets are also used for kitty litter and as a carrier for live-
stock pharmaceuticals. Those customers are also uninformed.^23
This is vivid proof that it becomes impossible for pesticide users, whether they are
government agencies, businesses, or homeowners, to accurately understand the haz-
ards of a pesticide product they are proposing to use if they don’t know its ingre-
dients. ‘‘Inert’’ ingredients also pose a crucial ethical issue. We are all exposed to
pesticides on a daily basis whether we like it or not. Given this situation, the very
least that can be done is to ensure that we have complete and easily and publicly
accessible information about all of the ingredients in pesticide products.
The So-Called Right to Know
Historically, farmworkers have been excluded from the right to know the names of
the chemicals they work with or from training on how to protect themselves. Thus,
farmworkers were the only occupational group excluded from the OSHA’s Hazard
Communication Standard (HCS). The WPS, as has been noted, requires safety train-
ing for all workers who enter crop fields where pesticides have been applied, and ex-
plicitly grants certain rights to workers, including a basic ‘‘right to know.’’ Also,
under state law, growers and farm labor contractors are required to inform workers of
the risks they face and to train them in safe handling techniques. Written illness pre-
vention plans are formally required. These ‘‘right-to-know’’ provisions are supported,
in principle, by the ‘‘right-to-act’’ provisions of federal and state labor law, which
guarantees to workers the right to join labor unions and bargain collectively with
employers. However, the ‘‘right-to-know’’ movement among industrial workers and
urban communities exposed to toxic chemicals has exerted a modest but beneficial
impact on public policy toward pesticide-exposed farmworkers. Yet, these worker-
oriented regulations have not always been observed in practice.^24 The reality is that the
vast majority of farmworkers have no idea what chemicals are used where they work,
much less what the specific health effects are. The present challenge is to develop ways
to train farmworkers effectively so they can recognize the dangers of the pesticides they
come into contact with, take measures to protect themselves, exercise their rights under
the law, and work together to resolve problems when they are identified.
Primary Care Providers and Pesticide Issues
What is the knowledge and awareness of pesticide issues in the educational and
practice settings of primary care providers? A primary care provider is defined as phy-
sician, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, nurse-midwife, or community
Pesticides in Agriculture | 37