Eight in ten adults in the French West Indies carry traces of a toxic pesticide in their blood long after its use ended on banana farms, according to a study released Wednesday. One in six residents of Martinique and Guadeloupe had levels of the carcinogenic insecticide above the safety limit. Farmers applied chlordecone, sold as Kepone, to control weevils in plantations on the islands from 1972 to 1993. France prohibited the chemical in 1990 yet permitted its continued application in the territories until 1993, even though the World Health Organization had flagged its likely cancer risk since the late 1970s. Three decades later the substance remains in soil and water, prompting activists to call the situation a major health and environmental scandal tied to colonial history. Parliament recently acknowledged the state’s responsibility and approved measures for cleanup and victim compensation. The new study by French health authorities examined more than one thousand adults in each territory. Detection rates averaged eight in ten, down slightly from nine in ten a decade earlier. Highest exposure occurred among people aged fifty and older living in polluted zones or working in fishing and farming. About one in six exceeded 0.4 micrograms per liter, a threshold where health risks cannot be excluded. The chemical is associated with elevated prostate cancer rates in the two territories as well as stomach and pancreatic cancers. Additional effects include harm to the nervous system, reproduction, hormones and organs such as the heart.
