Aerial Application - Environmental and Human Health Issues

Environmental and Human Health Issues

As with pesticide application in general, crop dusting is associated with a number of environmental concerns, including spray drift, soil contamination, water pollution, and occupational disease, often in the form of increased risk of cancer to those involved. In addition to their impact on human health, there is also concern that the use of pesticides can lead to the development of resistance among insects. By 1970 in the United States, lawsuits and court cases involving spraying of pesticides, especially aerial application in commercial agriculture were a growing area in law, combining areas such as negligence, products liability, strict liability, statutory regulation and commercial law. Environmental and human rights issues associated with crop dusting are greatest in developing countries, where government oversight is weaker or absent, few safety practices are used, and chemicals are used that are banned in most developed countries.

A study found that most of the crops grown in Texas were treated with chemicals that show evidence of possible carcinogenicity, and pointed to aerial application of pesticides as a potential cause of cancer in children. Crop dusting involving arsenic powders has been implicated in Bowen's disease. A study found that aviation mechanics in Nicaragua who work on planes used in the aerial application of pesticides are at high risk for poisoning due to contamination on parts of the aircraft. Also in Nicaragua, water runoff from a crop-dusting airport has been linked to contamination of the supply of drinking water, leading to levels of toxaphene far exceeding the limit the United States Environmental Protection Agency set in the U.S.