Silent Invaders: Pesticides, Livelihoods and Women's Health

At a time when the world‘s intensive hi-tech agricultural system is being criticised for its health and environmental impacts, pesticides are increasingly under scrutiny. Pesticides Action Network UK is part of an international network of national and community organizations monitoring the development and marketing of pesticides, dialoguing with the companies involved in order to minimize possible damage to people and nature, and campaigning for tighter controls over pesticide marketing and for new bio-friendly approaches to agricultural production. This PAN UK book brings together in an up-to-date and comprehensive manner the experience and findings of many different scientists, farmers‘ organizations and PAN members around the world. The particular focus is on women‘s health. In many societies, most work in the fields is done by women rather than men. As a result, not only are more women than men often exposed to pesticides, but the toxic effects impact on women in specific physiological ways. The information in this volume documents this and makes clear the urgent need for more systematic attention to gender issues in pesticide and sustainable agriculture-related research and action. Of particular practical usefulness are those sections which examine what progress has been made by governments and corporations in improving safety and safe use of pesticides; and how local communities, and in particular women, have fought back against indiscriminate and unsafe pesticide use, and pursued alternatives. A tool kit points readers to relevant action methodologies and sources of further information.

Table of Contents:
Foreword - Clare Short 1. Introduction: The Failure to Protect Women from Pesticides - Marion Moses Part I: Pesticides versus People 2. Introduction to Part I - Barbara Dinham 3. 'Nobody Told Me They Were Harmful': Pesticide Exposure and the Health of Women Farm Workers - Margaret Reeves and Lucy Rosas 4. Multiple Health Problems in Latin America - Catharina Wesseling 5. Rural Mothers with HIV: Eliminating Pesticide Exposure - Sam L Page 6. Women, Pesticide Use and Access to Information: Experiences from Niger Marian J. H. Hulshof and Sankung B. Sagnia 7. Caught in the Cotton Trap: Women's Exposure and Dependence in Benin Simplice - Davo Vodouhe 8. A Woman's Work is Never Done: Agriculture in Senegal Abou Thiam with Seynabou Sissoko 9. Invisible Farmers: Rural Roles in Pakistan - Nasira Habib 10. Day in, Day out: Lack of Protection in India - Daisy Dharmaraj and Sheila Jayaprakash Part II: The Science of Pesticide Exposure and Health 11. Introduction to Part II - Miriam Jacobs 12. High Risk Exposure: Gender, Age and Poverty - Jenny Pronczuk, Nida Besbelli and Michael Ruse 13. Measuring Gender Differences in Response to Pesticide Exposure - John McLaren Howard 14. Human Exposure to Airborne Pesticide Pollutants - Ordias Chikuni and Anuschka Polder 15. Cancer Risks in Agriculture - Lucia Miligi and Laura Settimi 16. Environmental Organochlorine Exposure and the Risk for Breast Cancer - Lennart Hardell 17. Explaining Breast Cancer and Chemical Liniks: Health Hazards for Women Workers - Dieter Flesch-Janys 18. Birth Defects in an Agricultural Environment - Ana M. Garcia 19. Reproductive Health and Pesticide Exposure - Xiping Xu and Sung-Il Cho 20. Unsafe Sex: How Endocrine Disruptors Work - Miriam Jacobs 21. Pesticides and P450 Induction: Gender Implications - David F. V. Lewis Part III: A Precautionary Approach to Policy and Regulation 22. Introduction to Part III - Barbara Dinham 23. Failing Laws: Assumptions and Realities for Women in South African Agriculture - Leslie London and Hanna-Andrea Rother 24. Safety at Work and Gender Bias: Attitudes to Risk in Setting Policy - Meriel A. Watts 25. Implementing Pesticide Regulation: Gender Differences - Andrew Wattterson and Jenny Wattterson 26. Double Jeopardy: Chemicals in the Home and the Workplace - David Watt Part IV: Taking Action 27. Introduction to Part IV - Barbara Dinham 28. Breaking the Silence: Women Struggle for Pesticide Elimination - Sarogeni Rengam 29. The Bhopal Aftermath: Generations of Women Affected - Satinath Sarangi 30. The Campaign against Lindane: The Lessons of Women's Action - Jill Day 31. Integrated Pest Management: Gender Sensitive and Participatory Approaches - Adrienne Martin and Kerry Albright 32. Integrated Pest Management: Training Women To Take Control - John Pontius and Alifah Sri Lestari Technical Annex Web Resources Abbreviations Glossary About the Contributors Index

About the Author :
Barbara Dinham is director of the Pesticide Action Network UK. Miriam Jacobs is a nutritionist and toxicologist. She lectures in food safety and toxicology at the University of Surrey. She also lectures at the Royal Veterinary School, University of London, and sits on the FRAME (Fund for Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments) working group on endocrine disruptors. Barbara Dinham is director of the Pesticide Action Network UK. Miriam Jacobs is a nutritionist and toxicologist. She lectures in food safety and toxicology at the University of Surrey. She also lectures at the Royal Veterinary School, University of London, and sits on the FRAME (Fund for Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments) working group on endocrine disruptors.

Review :
This new work follows in the footsteps of Rachel Carson's pioneering work, Silent Spring. It gives much new detail of pesticide hazards and explanations of the toxicity manifested and also focuses on the specific dangers to women. All in all, a superb book constituting a well documented, excellently reasoned case against the continued widespread use of chemical pesticides. We should all be indebted to Miriam Jacobs for her work on the effects of pesticides. She is that rare creature: a scientist who uses simple language we can all understand. Every woman who cares about the connection between her health and the food she eats should read this book. At last - a book about the dangers of pesticides as they affect those who grow most of the world's food: women. Authored by leading thinkers in the field of public health, this is a book to send to government officials, carry into public hearings, discuss with neighbours, and keep open on one's own writing desk. For nearly half a century women have been raising a voice against the violence of pesticides. Silent Invaders follows the tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring to wake us up from the ecological slumber that allows poisons to spread even in a period when safe alternatives to them are recognized and proven.