Toxic Pesticides Threaten Urban Communities of Color

Among scientists, pesticides were long regarded as an agricultural issue. They studied the impact of these chemicals on crops, rural residents, and farmworkers -- while by and large failing to examine their equally toxic effects in cities.

That is, until now. As scientists refocus on pesticides in urban areas, they're discovering that the effects of these poisons are particularly marked in communities of color. While this may be news to scientific researchers, it is no surprise for activists, who for years have been laboring to raise awareness of the swath of allergy, illness, and risk created by pesticides.

The secretive nature of pest control, the slow progress of science, and the persistent nature of some pesticides suggest this fight will last for years, perhaps generations. Meanwhile, people cough, grow sick, and don't know why.

"One of the biggest misconceptions," said Barry Zucker, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, "is that people think it's safe. People think that if [a pesticide] is approved by the EPA, it's safe."

But, he added, "There's a federal law prohibiting pesticide manufacturers from making any claims of 'safety' regarding pesticides, even if they're used as directed."

As Zucker suggests, many pesticides are far from safe. They have been linked with several types of cancer, neurological damage, autism, ADHD, and asthma.

There is evidence that people of color are disproportionately exposed to pesticides.

Scientists have yet to fully document such race-based patterns of exposure, and they are split on a key point: whether race or income level plays a greater role in determining a person's exposure. Researchers contacted for this story, most with prestigious academic appointments, often referred to activists as better sources on this subject. Several acknowledged, however, that they believe that people of color do suffer a greater toll from pesticides than whites.

There's little doubt that people of color are being exposed to toxic chemicals via insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides. Insecticides have been found in the blood of pregnant Latina and African American women; one study discovered traces of eight different pesticides in African American mothers-to-be. In fact, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report found that most people have more than one pesticide in their bodies. The actual problem is likely much larger than can be proven. Pesticide poisoning is underreported, partly because key symptoms can resemble the flu: sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and more.

Scientists have yet to determine all the effects of these chemicals, particularly in people of color. The EPA attempts to develop safe exposure levels for individual pesticides, but these studies don't explore the potential impacts on ethnic minorities. Researchers are finding that race and ethnicity do play a role in an increasing number of illnesses. But as Cecil Corbin-Mark of West Harlem Environmental Action explained at a recent conference on pesticides, the EPA doesn't require manufactures to consider such effects.

"Science often doesn't work in the service of people who look like me," said Corbin-Mark, an African American. "You're telling me that your process for determining what level of exposure I can have to some particular chemical doesn't even factor in me as a being?"

Children are especially vulnerable to pesticides due to their smaller size and developing organs. Despite children's vulnerability, most school districts use pesticides regularly. Several hundred children become sick every year because of pesticides encountered at school, and the rate has increased in recent years.

In a sprawling African American neighborhood in Chicago called Austin, parents are worried that schools may be making students sick. Like many Black neighborhoods, Austin has an extraordinarily high asthma rate.