SHIJIAZHUANG, China–China has banned the sale and use of the pesticide methamidophos since January 2007, but farmers in remote rural areas still spray the cheap and effective toxin on their produce.
Traces of methamidophos were found in frozen gyoza produced by Tianyang Food that sickened 10 people in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures.
Tianyang Food is located in Hebei province’s Shijiazhuang.
An Asahi Shimbun reporter traveled about 10 minutes by car from the Tianyang Food plant to wheat and corn fields outside of Shijiazhuang.
A farmer in his 40s was asked if he had any methamidophos. He produced two bottles containing the pesticide.
“I know this has been banned, but we can still buy this at stores,” the farmer said. “It costs about 7 to 8 yuan per bottle (1 yuan is about 15 yen). Many farmers still use it because it is highly effective in killing pests.”
A farm nearby also sprays the pesticide on plant leaves after diluting it with water.
“After a few hours, almost all of the insects that were on the leaves are dead,” a woman at the farm said. “The effect continues for dozens of days after use so it is much more convenient than other pesticides.”
The woman admitted that the methamidophos was only used on produce heading for market.
“We never use it on the vegetables that our family eats because we are afraid of being poisoned,” the woman said.
Methamidophos was one of five highly toxic organophosphate pesticides banned by the Chinese Agriculture Ministry in January 2007.
An official with China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said, “It is not available for sale except for use in experiments.”
However, in the 30 or so years before the ban went into effect, methamidophos was widely used in China.
According to statistics compiled by a Chinese industrial association for pesticides, about 270,000 tons of organophosphate pesticides were produced in China between 2003 and 2005. Methamidophos was by far the most popular pesticide, with a production figure during those three years of about 180,000 tons.
There are frequent examples of retailers stuck with the banned pesticide who sell it on the black market.
A salesperson at an agricultural products outlet in Shijiazhuang said, “While stores in urban areas will not stock it, it’s a different story in rural villages that are away from the oversight of government authorities.”
Some enterprising individuals sell the pesticide cheaply by using unregistered mobile phones.
A phone call was placed with one such broker in Jiangsu province who was selling highly concentrated methamidophos for between 20 and 30 yuan a liter.
“We are secretly manufacturing it at our plant,” the broker said. “We still get a lot of orders. If we are raided before we can deliver the product, we have customers pay the equivalent of the fine.”
An official with a major pesticide sales company in Beijing said the government would be unable to seize all the methamidophos.
“Farmers who have used methamidophos, which is cheap and highly effective in killing pests, will continue to use it even if it is illegal,” the official said.(IHT/Asahi: February 16,2008)