FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2011

CONTACTS: Ana Duncan Pardo, Toxic Free North Carolina
(919) 818-5933 | ana@toxicfreenc.org

NEW FILM REVEALS NC CHILD FARM WORKERS' EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES
Overworked & Under Spray tells school-age children's stories of illegal exposure, illness

Raleigh, N.C. - A new film released Tuesday highlights North Carolina farm worker children's stories about being sprayed with toxic pesticides while working in the field.

Overworked & Under Spray: Young Farm Workers' Pesticide Stories features interviews with six high school-age children about their experiences working in the fields in eastern NC. Most of the children's stories involve incidents of pesticide exposure that are illegal according to NC law. The film is the latest documentary short to be released by Toxic Free North Carolina.

“You could see the spray coming at you...but we kept on working. The next day I didn't feel so good,” said Felix Rodriguez, one of the high school-age farm workers featured in the film. “I wouldn't feel comfortable talking about pesticides to the owner or supervisor because they'll see you as nagging. They just really want you to work.”

“Overworked & Under Spray” was produced through Toxic Free NC's Farm Worker Documentary Project, which is in its fourth year. Toxic Free NC is a Raleigh-based nonprofit that works statewide to reduce pesticide pollution through grassroots organizing and policy reform. The film is available on Toxic Free NC's website as well as on the organization's YouTube channel.

“Hearing these kinds of stories from youth is especially compelling, because we know that exposure to pesticides can have an even more profound health impact on a child than it can on an adult,” said Toxic Free NC Executive Director Fawn Pattison. “It is our hope that by getting these stories out there, we can urge the state to do a better job of enforcing its pesticide laws.”

For more information contact Toxic Free NC staff member and film co-producer Ana Duncan Pardo at (919) 818-5933.

Toxic Free NC fights pesticide pollution in North Carolina by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment. We are an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization -- North Carolina’s only organization working to put people before pesticides.

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