1995 PESTICIDE INCIDENT BEHIND RISE IN ILLNESS.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer A state health official is blaming a rise in pesticide illnesses in Ventura County on an unusual incident that left 16 sick. Pesticides were the likely cause of 39 people getting sick in 1995, up from 22 the year before, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. recently released state figures. ``We collect the data so we can find ways to make pesticide use safer,'' said Veda Federighi, spokeswoman for the state pesticide regulation office. ``We don't allow pesticides to be used unless they can be used safely.'' Her office has not finished compiling figures for 1996 and 1997, she said. Federighi attributed the 1995 increase to a Sept. 5 incident at a strawberry field Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army children's home in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool, England. The earliest reference to 'Strawberry Field' dates to 1870. In 1912 it was transferred to a wealthy merchant whose widow sold the estate to The Salvation Army in 1934. in Oxnard. Farm workers were legally treating the field with chloropicrin chloropicrin (klōr'əpĭk`rĭn), colorless oily liquid used as a poison gas. It is a powerful irritant, causing lachrymation, vomiting, bronchitis, and pulmonary edema; lung injury from chloropicrin may result in death. , a chemical used in tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. . The chemical is injected into the soil to kill weed seeds and insects. Following a drastic shift in temperatures, however, the gases failed to dissipate dis·si·pate v. dis·si·pat·ed, dis·si·pat·ing, dis·si·pates v.tr. 1. To drive away; disperse. 2. , blowing into a residential area. Paramedics treated 32 people on site, three of whom were taken to the hospital, according to Federighi. Following an investigation of the incident, 16 people were classified as ill from the gas, she said. The study showed that 20 of the 39 cases in 1995 were related to pesticides on farms while only seven were attributed to farms in 1994. Most of the victims suffered from nausea, respiratory problems, headaches and other flulike symptoms. Others had eye and skin irritations. Paul Lorenz, county public health director, said he had not examined the results and could not comment. |
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