Subject: PANUPS: Benlate Problems Persist

From: Pesticide Action Network North America Reg Ctr <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 93 12:33:30 PST

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PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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BENOMYL QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED

January 8, 1992

Controversy continues over Benlate DF, the dry-flowable granular 
formulation of the fungicide benomyl that was withdrawn from the 
market in 1991 following reports of crop damage associated with its 
application.  Du Pont de Nemours, the manufacturer of this and other 
benomyl products, has paid growers over $500 million in settlement of 
claims for crop losses, in response to approximately 1,900 damages 
claims filed in 1991 and 1992.  In November of 1992, Du Pont 
announced that they would pay no more damage claims by farmers and 
horticulturists in the United States.  Du Pont maintains that their 
extensive field tests of 35 varieties of field crops, leafy plants, and 
woody ornamental plants did not indicate "a cause-and-effect 
relationship" between Benlate DF and the crop losses suffered by 
claimants.  These conclusions were presented at a meeting of the 
Florida Pesticide Review Council on December 4th, 1992, and are now 
under review by the State of Florida, where the majority of the cases 
claiming Benlate DF damages were filed.

A group of growers, farm laborers, consumers, and members of 
environmental organizations called Benlate Victims Against Du Pont 
called their own news conference before the December 4th, 1992 
meeting of Florida's Pesticide Review Council.  This coalition is calling 
for a boycott of all Du Pont products,  and demands that Du Pont to 
address claims regarding health problems resulting from Benlate DF as 
well as those claims involving the re-cropping of soils believed 
contaminated due to Benlate use.

Citizen and farmer groups in Florida have raised many questions about 
Du Pont's actions and conclusions.  Some growers have  conducted 
their own analyses of damaged plants, and of suspect batches of Benlate 
DF, with  varied results.  The amounts of  active ingredient found in 
Benlate DF range from 35% to 55%, and some independent 
investigators report various contaminants including boron, aluminum, 
heavy metals, and other pesticides including the fungicide 
chlorothalonil and the herbicide atrazine. (Atrazine was implicated as a 
Benlate contaminant in crop damage cases in 1989 and 1990, and
 the Benlate was partially recalled in response.  Further claims of plant 
damage from Benlate DF in 1990 revealed that atrazine was present in 
some, but not all, lots of Benlate DF used by claimants.)

Adverse health effects have also been reported in connection with 
Benlate use.  Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture has appointed a 
study  group to investigate health problems reported by numerous 
growers. Epidemiological and clinical research is still in preliminary 
stages.  In the meantime, citizens' groups are independently arranging 
for health monitoring  of farmers and farm laborers who report Benlate 
exposure.  In tests submitted as preliminary reports to Florida's 
Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services,  independent 
researchers report measurable levels of  benomyl metabolites and 
breakdown products in the blood and urine of  volunteer subjects.  
Benomyl is listed as a possible human carcinogen by the US 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),  and has caused congenital 
abnormalities, reduced sperm production, and genetic damage in 
laboratory  studies accepted as valid by US EPA.

Following the recommendation of the Health Effects Committee 
appointed by the Florida Agriculture Commissioner, a "Consensus 
Conference" is now scheduled to review past and present research on 
benomyl products and to determine whether workplace exposure levels 
and food residue tolerance levels are adequate to protect public health.  
This conference will be held in conjunction with the Society of 
Toxicologists' annual meeting  in New Orleans , March 19-20, 1993. 

Information about Benlate problems has been surrounded by secrecy.  
Out-of-court settlements routinely include agreements assuring 
confidentiality of the settlement terms and release of liability for any 
further damages.  In the case of Benlate settlements, this makes Du Pont 
the primary source on the number or scope of the complaints.  Even the 
State of Florida, where most of the complaints were filed, can not report 
the number of Benlate claims settled or their disposition. Recently, Du 
Pont released the formula  (ordinarily protected as a "trade secret") for 
Benlate DF,  in response to claimant actions, only after years of reported 
crop damage associated with the dry-flowable formulation.  
 
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford has asked the 
court to rescind the motion that grants confidentiality to over 150,000 
documents related to the effects of Benlate DF, claiming that the public's 
right to know outweighs Du Pont's needs for secrecy.  Du Pont is 
planning to respond to the state's demand, and  the matter is likely to 
go to trial sometime  this year. Additionally, the first two class-action 
suits against Du Pont for Benlate damages are scheduled for trial this 
year.

Du Pont has reported that Benlate suits have been filed "from the 
Caribbean and Central America," but the number of these, their 
countries and problems experienced remain undisclosed.  

SOURCES: AGROW World Crop Protection News, Nos. 134, 160, 170, 
172;  Toxics Law Reporter, Nov. 18, 1992;  background paper on Benlate, by 
Kerry  Dressler, (unpublished);  Registration Standard for benomyl, US 
Environmental Protection Agency; "Bad-Acting Pesticide is Giving Du 
Pont a Costly Headache," Wall Street Journal, December 16, 1991. Also 
see PANUPS "Benlate Toxicity is a Growing Concern,"  May 8, 1991, and 
article on Benlate problems in PAN North America's Global Pesticide 
Campaigner, February 1993 (upcoming).

CONTACT:

Kerry Dressler, Florida Defenders of the Environment, Route 2, Box 
565C, Micopany, FL 32667, phone/fax: (904) 466-4215

Dale Smith, Benlate Victims Against Du Pont, phone: (305) 246-8627

Dr. Marian Fuller, Florida State Department of Health and 
Rehabilitative Services,  phone: (904) 487-0532

Damion Dumont, Greenpeace, phone: (202) 543-2518

Jack Doyle, Friends of the Earth, phone: (202) 544-2600

Jay Feldman, National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 
phone (202) 543-5450
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This information is provided by the Pesticide Action Network North 
America Updates Service (PANUPS), a pesticide-related news service
rom the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North American 
Regional Center. Updates are posted weekly on EcoNet in the 
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conferences, and distributed worldwide across the APC computer network. 
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PENpages agriculture information service at Penn State Univ. Hard-copy 
compilations of these updates are also available. For more information 
about PAN activities and publications, contact: PAN NA RC, 965 Mission 
Street #514, San Francisco, CA 94103. Tel: (415) 541-9140. Fax: (415) 541-9253.
Telex: 156283472 PANNA. E-mail address on EcoNet: [email-masked]
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