Monsanto has been found guilty of the chemical poisoning of a French farmer who inhaled its weed killer in what could be a landmark ruling on the use of pesticides.
Cereal farmer Paul François suffered dizziness, headaches and other problems and was unable to work for a year after he opened a sprayer of Monsanto’s Lasso weed killer in 2004.
The 47-year-old claimed Monsanto did not put ade- quate warnings on the label.
The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Lyon, south-east France, linked his illness directly to Lasso and ordered a report into his condition in order to determine how much compensation should be paid.
It is an historic decision because it is the first time a pesticide maker has been held responsible for such a case. Monsanto spokesman Mark Buckingham said the company was “disappointed” with the court’s findings and would appeal.
“Monsanto products comply with safety standards in place at the time of marketing and are support- ed by guidance for their responsible and safe use,” he added. “Lasso was clearly labelled to contain monochlorobenzene, a common solvent, as required by the regulations. Our analysis of this case is that there is no demonstration of the causal link between Lasso and the symptoms reported by Mr François.”
The NFU would not comment on the case but stressed pesticides are tightly regulated and an invalu- able tool for farmers. “Defra is expected to publish regulations this spring that implement the Sustainable Use Directive, which will ensure training and mandatory sprayer testing every three years,” said policy director Martin Haworth.
Georgina Downs of the UK Pesticides Campaign said it was encouraging to see the French court recognise that pesticides can cause the type of neurological symptoms suffered by Paul Francois.
“This is a very important ruling which could set a precedent for other cases in which those exposed, whether it be farmers, or residents living near sprayed fields, have suffered adverse health effects as a result of exposure to pesticides,” she said.
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