China Considers Pesticide Ban to Prevent Suicides

It's pretty common knowledge at this point that pesticides are, well, frighteningly toxic. But some recent news out of China puts the situation into sobering perspective.

According to The Wall Street Journal, China's seen a rash of peasant suicides in recent years. About 287,000 people take their lives in the country every year. Suicide, while tragic, happens across the globe. But here's the really surprising part about China: In about 58 percent of these suicide cases, citizens use pesticides to take their lives, according to a study conducted by the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center. "Pesticides are placed casually in many areas in many farmers' homes...the easy access makes it very convenient for them to use pesticides in committing suicide," Li Xianyun, the center's director, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal.

To remedy the situation, China's testing out a new plan in Hunan and Zhejiang provinces to take crop pesticides out of individual farmers' control and put them into the hands of village committees. Whenever farmers need their crops treated, they will need to contact village committee professionals to spray their fields.

Not demean the severity of China's farmer-suicide problem, but I can't help but look at the larger issue here. Perhaps this question is a bit naiive, but here goes: If pesticides are toxic enough to kill people, why are farmers across the globe still spraying them on the world's food supplies?

Let's examine some of the most recent evidence: Over the past few years, pesticide exposure's been linked to a host of medical maladies ranging from cancers to reproductive problems to hyperactivity. Other studies link the chemicals to Parkinson's disease, endocrine disorders, and nervous system malfunctions. As Change.org blogger Kristen Ridley wrote, farm workers suffer significantly more from this exposure than folks who eat foods containing pesticide residues. Workers chronically exposed to pesticides suffer from arthritis, throat problems, diabetes, coughing, rashes, miscarriages, birth defects, and childhood developmental disorders, among other ailments. Add in China's pesticide-induced suicides and the picture becomes even more toxic.

It's great that China is taking action to prevent farmers from intentionally taking their lives with pesticides. But evidence suggests that an even more pressing problem might be those who are unintentionally dying or suffering from pesticide exposure. It's time for agriculture to wean itself off chemicals and start focusing on what it's supposed to do — produce healthy foods that sustain a global community.

Photo credit: Colin Gregory Palmer via Flickr