Subject: PANUPS: Aldicarb Spill in Texas

From: EcoNet Pesticide Issue Desk <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 Apr 94 14:40 PDT

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  PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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Aldicarb Spill in Texas Causes Fire, Evacuations, Sends 
People to Hospital

April 21, 1994

On April 13, a truck carrying 23,000 pounds of aldicarb 
crashed near Dallas, Texas, spilling the toxic pesticide and 
sending at least 17 people to the hospital for possible 
exposure.  Aldicarb, one of the Pesticide Action Network's 
Dirty Dozen pesticides, is the most acutely toxic pesticide 
allowed to be sold in the U.S.

The truck carrying aldicarb hit a traffic sign and burst into 
flames on Interstate 20 in Balch Springs, southeast of 
Dallas.  Because of contaminated smoke from the fire, 
officials evacuated a five-mile radius around the accident 
site, including two schools, 1,650 students and dozens of 
homes.  Interstate 20 was also closed.  An emergency room 
physician said that anyone who came in contact with the smoke 
or drove near the accident should take a 15 minute shower and 
see a doctor.  

Seventeen firefighters and police officers who were at the 
scene of the accident were sent to Baylor University Medical 
Center for evaluation.  Afterwards, emergency officials let 
the fire burn itself out so that no additional firefighters 
would be harmed by the smoke.  UPI quoted Balch Springs City 
Manager Angie Warner as saying, "We're telling anyone that 
drove through the smoke to get to their doctor." A hospital 
spokeswoman warned that breathing the fumes can cause 
vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, over-salivating and frequent 
urination.  

Aldicarb, registered in the U.S. since 1970 to control 
insects, mites and nematodes on a variety of crops, is the 
most toxic agricultural chemical currently used in the U.S., 
according to the Center for Disease Control.  Just one drop 
of aldicarb absorbed through the skin is enough to kill an 
adult.  It is also highly toxic to mammals and birds, and to 
marine and freshwater organisms. 

In 1989, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that 
between 34,000 and 82,000 infants and children consumed 
enough aldicarb in potatoes each day to suffer illness.  A 
further 1,500 infants and children were estimated to suffer 
similar effects from consuming aldicarb in bananas.  In 1990, 
Rhone-Poulenc, the sole U.S. registrant of aldicarb, 
voluntarily stopped the sale of the pesticide for use on 
potatoes in response to evidence of aldicarb residues 
exceeding the legal tolerances.  In 1993, EPA revoked the 
tolerance for aldicarb in bananas after evidence indicated 
that high residue levels of the pesticide could result from 
established use rates.  Aldicarb is still registered in the 
U.S. for use on citrus, cotton, dry beans, ornamentals, 
peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets and sweet potatoes.

Aldicarb has caused many serious accidents and health threats 
in the U.S. and internationally.  In the largest single 
pesticide food poisoning incident ever reported in North 
America, 1,000 people were poisoned by aldicarb-tainted 
watermelon in 1985.  That same year, over 300 people in 
British Columbia, Canada, suffered aldicarb poisoning after 
eating tainted cucumbers.  A 1988 survey of recorded 
pesticide poisonings in Costa Rica showed that aldicarb 
caused more poisonings than any other pesticide.  

Aldicarb was one of the pesticides manufactured at the Union 
Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, the site of the world's worst 
industrial disaster which caused thousands of deaths and tens 
of thousands of serious injuries in 1984.  Eight months after 
the Bhopal disaster, a gas leak at a Union Carbide aldicarb 
factory in Institute, West Virginia, sent 135 people to the 
hospital, but caused no apparent serious injuries.  

Source: United Press International, "Truckload of Pesticides 
Burn in Texas",  April 14, 1994. "The Case Against Aldicarb", 
Pesticide Watch, May 1990. "Unnecessary Risks, " National 
Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 1992. EPA Press 
Release, February 3, 1992 and July 23, 1993.  PAN Dirty Dozen 
Pesticide Fact Sheets.

Contact:  PANNA.
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The Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS) is a 
pesticide-related news service posted weekly by the Pesticide 
Action Network North America Regional Center (PANNA). PANNA is 
located at 116 New Montgomery Street, #810, San Francisco, CA 
94105. Tel: (415) 541-9140. Fax: (415) 541-9253. To receive a 
standard information packet about the Pesticide Action Network 
send a short e-mail message to [email-masked].
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