Chemical
Imbalance
By
Rin Vannra
KANDAL
PROVINCE: One evening two weeks ago, Mr. Hok Run, 58, sprayed
his rice field with pesticide in Kandal province. He lives in Reing Village
Peam Reing commune, Lek Tek district, Kandal province he said “I started using
chemical for twenty years ago. And face to the problem of health such as his
face look like swell up, headache, vomit, no power in the body, and spent a lot
of money in order cure my health.”
One
more thing, he said that “I had borrowed money from the bank $1,000 for buy
equipment and other important things that need. Unfortunately, when I harvest
the crop the price of the crop like rice and corn are cheap because of
treatment buy to Vietnam give the cheap price we can’t do anything. That why I
am difficult to find profit on their plants. I live one day for other day just
a live not everything. And I wish that one day will someone who has ability to
have them to solve the market problem for our nation.”
In
Cambodia, eighty percent of the Cambodian is agriculture a few is industrial.
Some of the province in Cambodia are using chemical on their plant as vegetable,
rice, fruit and other plant. Especially some region or provinces that near the
border of Cambodia and Vietnam, all most using the chemical of their plant in
order to get high quantity and to protect the plant, make its good, and not
insect to destroy their plants.
Kandal
province mostly people use the chemical on their plants. According to Mr. Nouv
Ruon is 65 years old, and he lives in Peam Reing Village, Peam Reing commune,
Lerk Tek district, Kandal province. And he is the chief of the village said
that “three people died by drunk the poison because of angry of their parents
scold them so they decide to drunk it. This is a big problem in our village
because of misunderstanding of those people.”
The
leader of Peam Reing Village said that “I started use chemical at 2000. Because
of the insect had destroyed my rice and the crop is less so I start to use the
insecticide to cure their rice. One more thing, I lack of the natural method to
protect my plants so, I decide to use chemical that import from Vietnam and
Thailand.”
“Eighty
percent of the villager are using chemical on their plant. Just, only twenty
percent that know about how to prevent the risk of using chemical. They lack
the technique in using poison so they are very dangerous for them to use and actually
now they are use it common and they don’t care about the effect of it although
it could harm to them,” he said.
“Most
people in this village don’t have ability to buy the tool or equipment for do
agriculture so they need to borrow money from the bank or from some rich
villager who own the money to buy the equipment such as fertilizer, insecticide,
poison, gasoline, oil, diesel oil etc. after they harvest the crop. They
cumulate everything that spent whiles the processing of crop.
Almost
of them, get benefit a little from do their crops that sometime don’t money to
pay back to the bank. Because they spent a lots but the price of their product
are cheap that why they will be lose. In addition, they don’t have market to
sell their product so the merchant just buy in cheap price and they export to
Vietnam so the price is depending on the Vietnam. “We can’t refuse the price so
we just sell in the lowest price. The chief of the village continue that when
they start to do faming the price of everything is high price but after the
harvesting it will be low price on the crop but the equipment is very
expensive. We always get lowest price of their products,” he said.
“Now
they starting collect the money from selling the product than they pay a debt
to the bank. Some bank are take interest rate is high that is reason they are
very difficult to do and to serve their life,” he said.
He
continue that, “the government is to help people but still under limited and
some organization are work hard to help people tech them and the method to
protect body from the poison, chemical and using its. Let them to know about
how to use the poison and kept it away from the child too, some organization
such as, Cow Khmer Organization, Se Dak, and World Vision etc.” “Forty percent
of villager practice and some are not because they still believe using the
poison are get a lots of product and some are common to use it so the not afraid
in using it,” he said.
Doctor
Kong Seyha is vice president of public hospital at Lerk Dek district said that “I
work as the doctor 30 years. I meet problems of the disease of the people that
using poison or chemical such as vomit, pneumonia, stomachache, tired, poison,
diarrhea, headache, liver disease, brain disease. Sometimes he can’t help the
patient on time because in hospital doesn’t have enough equipment for example
like Oxygen that why some people are died because of it too late and too poisonous.”
“Most
people in this village don’t know about the risk of using chemical and the
method to prevent the bodies. They just use it on their plant. Some people are
not using the gloves, mask, and wear the boot. And they are mixing the insecticide
by not wear the gloves or direct by hands,” he said.
According
to, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that “pesticides may cause acute
and delayed health effects in those who are exposed.
Pesticide exposure can cause a variety of adverse health effects. These effects
can range from simple irritation of the skin and eyes to more severe effects
such as affecting the nervous system, mimicking hormones causing reproductive
problems, and also causing cancer. A 2007 systematic review
found that "most studies on non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia showed
positive associations with pesticide exposure" and thus concluded that
cosmetic use of pesticides should be decreased. Strong evidence also exists for
other negative outcomes from pesticide exposure including neurological, birth defects,
fetal death,
and neurodevelopmental disorder.
The
American Medical Association
recommends limiting exposure to pesticides and using safer alternatives: “Particular
uncertainty exists regarding the long-term effects of low-dose pesticide
exposures. Current surveillance systems are inadequate to characterize
potential exposure problems related either to pesticide usage or
pesticide-related illnesses considering these data gaps, it is prudent to limit
pesticide exposures and to use the least toxic chemical pesticide or
non-chemical alternative.”
The
World Health Organization and the UN Environment Programme
estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing
world experience severe poisoning from pesticides,
about 18,000 of whom die. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers
in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly.
One
study found pesticide self-poisoning the method of choice in one third of
suicides worldwide, and recommended, among other things, more restrictions on
the types of pesticides that are most harmful to humans.”
For
the sell and buy those kind of insecticide, according to Mr. Nong Crey and Mrs.
Sreng Srey Toch say that “they sale those Chemical around twelve years. People
usually come to buy those insecticide and some kind of fatten medicine use on
their crop and plants. Most people promise that after they harvest crop they
going to pay back. Although, they said, the seller still need letter and the
finger prints too.”
“People
mostly use insecticide such as Apphe (use to protect rice from warms), VATINO
(Use for flourish flower of rice, mango, and to widen seed), ATULVIL (use to
protect trunk of rice and other plants), BOPOWER (use to widen seed near
harvest), NEWPREEN (Prevent the small butterfly that produce warm), VATIDAN
(use to make plants are green and good), ANTI-XO (use to protect seed of the
rice), TOPTEN ( use to protect rice from caterpillar found in rice leaves),
NOSO-SUPER ( use to kill all red caterpillar). All those are import from
Vietnam and some of them the ministry of Environmental forbid to use
especially, the poison that import from Thailand because most of are very
effective to human health and the environment,” they said.
Finally, people hope that they will have
standard market and find the profit; they will have better life if the wish is
true. And they propose to the government that please looks and take cares them
because they are really live in difficult condition.
“We
want to live in better life and have money to support our child to study and
finish university like other communities in Cambodia,” Mr. Hok Run said.
