Sprayed! Know
what to do.
by Molly McKee Stapleton, Pesticide Enforcement
Intern
Picture this: you and your family are working outside in your yard on a breezy day and notice a crop duster flying low in your neighbor's field. Suddenly you feel yourself covered in a strong-smelling liquid that burns your skin and throat. Would you know what to do next?
This is exactly what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy of Pink Hill, NC. After talking with the Kennedys and other drift victims across the state, we have the following advice for victims of pesticide drift in North Carolina. Prepare yourself as we head into another growing season!
The chemicals in many
pesticides are toxic and dangerous. Even when applied
correctly and carefully, there is always a chance
of drift and unwanted exposure—for other
vegetation, for animals, and for people. Whether
you come into contact with pesticides yourself
or you observe a pesticide misapplication in a
public or private place, take these important steps
to protect yourself and help put an end to pesticide
drift in North Carolina. |
1) Protect yourself. If you have come into direct contact with chemical pesticides, immediately leave the area and take off any contaminated clothing. Put your contaminated clothes in plastic bags so you won’t be re-exposed by handling them, and so they can be used as samples for lab work if necessary. Take a shower as soon as possible, or wash with the nearest source of clean water. Ask the pesticide applicator for the labels and material safety data sheets (MSDS) for the formulations s/he sprayed. Even if you do not have immediate symptoms, it is possible that your health may be at risk, so it is important to go to a physician for an exam. Tell your health care provider about the exposure, and take any information you have about the chemicals with you.
2) Report the incident. Whether or not you have come into direct contact with pesticides, it is important to call the state enforcement agency anytime pesticides have been misused or caused damage or harm. Doing so will help state officials to better track and understand the actual and potential pesticide problems in our state.
To report a pesticide incident in North Carolina, call the Pesticide Section of the NC Department of Agriculture at 919-733-3556. An investigator should come to the site within 24 hours of a phone call, and should bring equipment for collecting samples for lab-work. If taken promptly, laboratory tests are capable of identifying the chemicals that were used.
3) Keep good records. For your own safety and to help the investigation run smoothly, it is very important to keep track of the details of the pesticide incident. It can be helpful to create a notebook where you can keep all the information about the incident for easy reference.
If you were exposed to pesticides directly, keep contaminated clothing articles in sealed plastic bags, out of the sun. Additionally, keep track of any symptoms you have, and any information that a doctor provides.
No matter what type of pesticide incident occurred, write down the date and the specific details of the event, which can be easy to forget in the following weeks. Write down the names of the people that you speak with over the phone, and the investigator that you speak with. Tell the pesticide investigator that you would like to be notified of any information that is found or action that is taken. Be sure to follow up and make sure you get the information you requested, especially if the applicator and/or the investigator are not forthcoming with information
It can be frightening to witness careless application of pesticides or to be exposed to pesticide drift, and sometimes intimidating to report incidents to the state Pesticide Section. Nonetheless, reporting these incidents is one of the most important steps you can take to keep them from happening again. Call our Toll-Free Pesticide Drift Hotline for more information and assistance: 1-877-NO-SPRAY (1-877-667-7729).
Molly McKee Stapleton is a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill and a participant in the APPLES Service Learning Program.