Poisoning ourselves?

Peter O'Connor writes a weekly column for the Newsday. 

One year ago today, on December 10, 2016, we were packed and ready to fly out to St Kitts early on the following morning. We had planned to spend Christmas there with our son and his family.

But I decided, before leaving, to “treat” our small lawn for the bugs that were eating it – again. I did this about three times a year, because these bugs seemed very resilient, and had been doing this for several years. I used a watering can, not a mist sprayer, and wore long sleeves, long pants and tall rubber boots. The poison I chose was called “Fas-Tac.” I had used this in the past.

At around 4.00 pm that Saturday I used the first watering can full and was mixing the second batch.

Two days later I woke up in St Clair Medical Centre, with my son (from New York, not St Kitts) sitting at my bedside. I recall knowing where I was and not being surprised to see him there, but I had no idea why I was there or how long I had been there. My wife would fill in those details. She had been in the kitchen when I was on the lawn. She had heard me shouting incoherently, and the neighbour’s dog barking furiously at me through the fence. She came out to check and saw me run across the lawn and collapse into a flower bed. The ambulance arrived quickly, as did my nephew who rushed to our home to help. It was he who picked up and sealed the bottle of remaining Fas-Tac and followed the ambulance to St Clair. I remained unconscious until that awakening on Monday, my son having flown in on the Sunday. In St Kitts, they “unmade” the plans for our arrival and stay.

Upon awakening I was sent for scans of my brain and allowed to return home. I was feeling fine but was told not to drive. For one month I was not allowed to drive myself. My appointment with the Brain Specialist who examined the scans (a delightful person! Thank you for your help, Sir!) revealed spots on a part of my brain. A month later these had disappeared and I was taken off medication and given the OK to drive again. Since then I have been fine. I have gone hiking and camping in the Madamas forest, finally got to St Kitts in August and even to NY in October. The surviving bugs ate the whole lawn and this is slowly growing back, and we have no agricultural poisons in our home.

So why, with everything above now in my past, do I discuss this episode today, one year on?

Because I wonder that if I—a very occasional user of these agricultural poisons—could suffer what I am told was a near death experience, what about all the farmers and gardeners who regularly use these poisons? Do we know the states of the health of these persons? Do they know? What are the listed causes of deaths among the farming communities? What about the people who eat vegetables which may have been sprayed with these poisons? Vegetables like lettuces, tomatoes, cabbages, anything without a protective inedible skin? Might illnesses like cancer be introduced to us via unwashed but poisoned vegetables? What about the run-off via rains and rivers of these poisons entering our rivers and our sea? We already know that unscrupulous persons use these agricultural poisons to kill fish, crayfish and crabs in our mountain streams.

I acknowledge that these poisons are labelled as such, with the standards for personal protection listed on the labels. And therefore it is incumbent upon us to read the labels and take the necessary precautions. But we are a lackadaisical people and we obey no laws, and take no standard precautions. And the products are very easy to acquire, and I imagine that many persons, including people who farm and garden for their living, could become as casual as I was (or more so?) and expose themselves to very dangerous poisons as they work.

I was told that had my wife not been home when I collapsed, I may not have survived my incident. Was I an exception to the norm among people who use these poisons? As I said, I used these about three times a year over the past twenty or more years. What might have happened to me had I been using a “Mist Sprayer” several times a year on my crops?

So on the anniversary of my scare I raise the issue to inquire if our medical people know whether or not our farming communities have a principal cause of death issue among their departed membership? And might this, if it exists, be caused by agricultural chemical poisoning?

Just asking?