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Twenty two farm workers including three pregnant women were rushed to hospitals last week after
being poisoned by a mixture of toxic pesticides while harvesting grapes near Bakersfield, California,
according to United Farm Workers (UFW).
A crop dusting...
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Twenty two farm workers including three pregnant women were rushed to hospitals last week after
being poisoned by a mixture of toxic pesticides while harvesting grapes near Bakersfield, California,
according to United Farm Workers (UFW).
A crop dusting plane was applying pesticides to a nearby
cotton field when the accident occurred.
It is estimated that as many as 225 additional farm workers
were also exposed to the chemicals, which drifted into the grape fields.
Victims exhibited a range of
pesticide poisoning symptoms including vomiting and irritated eyes and noses.
According to county officials, the plane was spraying cotton for mites and aphids with a mixture of
Lorsban (chlorpyrifos), Danitol (fenpropathrin) and Curacron (profenofos).
A slight breeze carried the
pesticides toward the grape field where the chemicals drizzled down on workers, many of whom tried
to escape by running away.
Most of the affected workers were treated at local hospitals and released the
same day.
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