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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yakima, Wash. - Monitoring stations have been set up at some central
Washington orchards to measure whether pesticide sprays are drifting
toward homes or schools.
Growers from Wenatchee to the Tri-Cities have agreed to allow the air
around their orchards to be sampled, under the pilot program that
started in early March. They have not been publicly identified and the
sites are kept secret so that no one can tamper with the equipment or
compromise the collection of data.
State lawmakers approved more than $1 million for the monitoring plus a
study by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission in Wenatchee to
find ways to reduce the amount of certain pesticides used on fruit
trees.
Pesticide use has been a politically and emotionally charged debate
among growers and farmworker advocates.
Growers fear the goal of the program may be to restrict their use of
pesticides before alternatives can be developed, jeopardizing the
state's $6 billion tree-fruit industry.
Jim McFerson, manager of the Wenatchee-based Tree Fruit Research
Commission, said growers will cooperate as long as the results aren't
used to punish the industry.
"If we're put out of business, the game's off," McFerson said.
Even farmworker advocates aren't completely comfortable with the design
of the program. Carol Dansereau, executive director of the Seattle-based
Farm Worker Pesticide Project, is concerned that because orchard owners
know they are being monitored, they may be tempted to instruct their
pesticide applicators to alter their spraying.
"My instinct is that this is problematic," Dansereau said.
Richard Fenske, a University of Washington scientist, is leading the
study for the state Department of Health. Fenske acknowledges that
growers are wary of the study, but he said it can't be done without
their cooperation. Adding growers to his technical advisory committee
has helped, he said.
"There was apprehension about air monitoring and I can understand that,"
Fenske said. "So having people that growers know and trust review what
we're doing has helped avoid that acrimony."
The monitoring is for a chemical called Chlorpyrifos, which is used by
apple growers in the spring to protect trees before they bud. It has
been banned for use indoors because of a health risk to children. Until
2002, the chemical was used in pet collars and as a bug killer in homes
under the brand name Dursban.
In the field, if a worker is accidentally overexposed to the chemical,
known as Lorsban as an agricultural brand, the effects are well
documented. Symptoms range from dizziness to difficulty breathing and
even paralysis as the chemical depresses certain enzymes necessary for
everything from proper breathing to muscle coordination.
However, the risks of chronic, low-level exposure haven't been
definitively studied.
McFerson said more growers are choosing alternate insecticides or
deploying pheromones to disrupt bugs from mating and multiplying.
Pheromones are chemical signals between species that stimulate certain
behaviors.
In the meantime, the results of the air-monitoring study will be
presented to the 2009 Legislature. Fenske has cautioned that whatever
the numbers show, they won't be definitive.
"This is a pilot program," he said.
Jim Hazen, executive director of the Washington State Horticultural
Association in Wenatchee, said the preliminary and limited nature of the
study means its supporters will want it funded for the 2009 growing
season.
"I fully expect Mr. Fenske and others will be back before the
Legislature saying they need more money," he said.
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