Closing the Pesticide Loophole

Cazares is an English Major at the University of California Davis and a participant of the Journalism program at University of California Center in Sacramento and New America Media.

Luis Medellin knows all too well the dangers of exposure to pesticides.

This resident of a small, all-Mexican community in Lindsey, Calif., constantly watched farm workers and local residents getting exposed to the pesticides sprayed in the fields next to his house.

“I would wake up and see the guy with the pesticide machine, wearing no protective gear, spraying pesticide 10 to 20 feet away,” he said.

One night a year ago, Medellin woke up with a headache and could smell the pungent pesticide, possibly coming in through the air vents. As he walked around the house, he saw his mom and three sisters tossing and turning in their beds.

“I went to drink some water and couldn’t keep it down,” he said. “I could taste the pesticide in the back of my throat.”

Soon the rest of his family woke up. Everyone complained they had a headache.

Medellin’s family was one of 60 living in a community that was constantly being exposed to pesticides. After the events of that night, the Medellins and some of the other families in Lindsey filed a class-action lawsuit against farm owners who allowed the pesticide poisonings to occur.

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