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Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: August 25th, 2023
  • rozlav@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoScience Memes@mander.xyz•BananaEnglish
    15·
    25 days ago

    The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe are heavily contaminated with chlordecone,[19] following years of its massive and unrestricted use on banana plantations: primarily against Cosmopolites sordidus.[20][21] Despite a 1990 ban on the substance in mainland France, the economically powerful banana planters lobbied intensively to obtain a waiver to keep using Kepone until 1993. They argued that no alternative pesticide was available, which has since been disputed. After the 1993 ban, the banana planters were discreetly granted derogations to use their remaining stocks, and a 2005 report prepared by the French National Assembly states that after the 1993 ban was imposed, the chemical was illegally imported to the islands under the name Curlone, and continued to be used for many years.[9] Since 2003, local authorities in the two islands have restricted the cultivation of various food crops because the soil is badly contaminated by chlordecone. A 2018 large-scale study by the French public health agency, Santé publique France, shows that 95% of the inhabitants of Guadeloupe and 92% of those of Martinique are contaminated by the chemical.[22] Guadeloupe has one of the highest prostate cancer diagnosis rates in the world.[23]

    If you know how to read french, there is this comic book from Jessica Oublié, this is really well documented and sadly amazing to read, there are lots of french colonization implications in this story, obviously. The other comic about caribbean colonization by Jessica Oublié is also very impressive work.