Environmental brief ~ Honduran banana pickers sue for chemical exposure News
Environmental brief ~ Honduran banana pickers sue for chemical exposure

[JURIST] In Monday's environmental law news, more than 600 Honduran banana pickers have filed a lawsuit against the Dole [company website], Chiquita [company website], and Fresh Del Monte [company website] food companies and the Dow Chemical [company website] and Royal Dutch/Shell [company website] chemical companies alleging that the pickers were exposed to dibromochloropropane [ATSDR profile, PDF] (DBCP), a pesticide, on bananas in Central America after it was banned in the US in 1979. DBCP is known to cause a range of reproductive and other disorders. The complaint follows similar actions [JURIST report] by Costa Rican and Nicaraguan banana workers in recent years. Reuters has more.

In other news,

  • New York governor George Pataki plans [press release] to offer legislation that would force schools to use environmentally benign cleaning products. If approved, the bill would take effect by the start of the 2006 school year, allowing districts time to use up all of their current supplies. The Albany Times Union has the full story.