Circle of Poison: Pesticides and People in a Hungry World

by David Weir, Mark Schapiro

Every minute, someone in the Third World becomes a victim of pesticide poisoning. Circle of Poison documents the international marketing of restricted pesticides that leave a globe-circling trail of sickness and death. But the circle's victims are not silent. Around the world, people are fighting back.

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

David^^^^^^Weir

Reviews

[Alexandre Daly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The language of this book has aged really poorly (a lot of talk about "third-world peasants"), but the topic of the book seems important. I'll admit I'm totally ignorant about the topic, and since this book is now 50 years old, I'm not sure if it reflects the current reality of pesticides, but being aware of the dangers of exporting pesticides even if we don't use them ourselves seems important. Not only does it harm people making them, shipping them, and the farmers who use them, the crops these toxins were used on are often brought right back into the US, impacting citizens as well. The depiction of a "circle of poison" is powerful. Again, I'm not sure what's happened in the five decades since this book has been published, but I hope good things...?

[Wendy Bousfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This admirable work of investigative reporting was published in 1981, after Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING (1962) had led to the banning of many hazardous agricultural chemicals in the U.S. As Weir and Schapiro document, however, chemical companies continued to export these same chemicals to the third world countries that export food to the U.S. Therefore, while American farmers were banned from using such pesticides as DDT, parathion, malathion, chlordane, and aldrin, America routinely imported fruits and vegetables laced with these substances. Though its enforcement activities have always been inadequately funded, the EPA was able to ban the SALE of hazardous agricultural chemicals at home. It was prohibited, however, from ordering U.S. manufacturers to cease production of any pesticide as long as it was destined for overseas use. Though chemical companies argued that they were helping to feed the world’s hungry, Weir and Schapiro maintain that Third World farmers used pesticides to produce the flawless produce demanded by U.S. markets. Illiterate workers were “seldom told how the pesticides could hurt them” (7).

Jimmy Carter had agreed to STUDY the effects of the export of hazardous chemicals to third world countries. However, in 1981, when CIRCLE OF POISON was published, the Reagan administration ended even tentative attempts at regulating chemical companies.

In the 1970’s, when CIRCLE OF POISON was written, gene splicing was, of course, unknown. Weir and Schapiro do, however, document those actions by agrochemical corporations that led to the prodigious threat big agriculture poses to the environment in the 21st century. In the 1970’s large agrochemical companies began buying seed companies. Monsato (infamous today for genetically modified seeds and ruthless legal maneuvers), as well as Union Carbide, Sandoz, Upjohn, and others began selling hybrid seeds, far less resistant to insect pests than heirlooms. Hybrids needed large doses of pesticides to thrive. With seeds for food crops controlled by large chemical companies, genetic diversity was reduced. In the 21st century the problem has escalated: genetically engineered plants resistant to both herbicides and pesticides have encouraged farmers to use chemicals liberally, without fear of damaging fruits and vegetables.

CIRCLE OF POISON was written before the Bhopal disaster (1984), caused when a poorly maintained Union Carbide pesticide plant in India released toxic gas that killed and injured thousands. Among David Weir’s subsequent publications is THE BHOPAL SYNDROME: PESTICIDES, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH (1987). Mark Schapiro has also continued investigative reporting on the environment and economics. Among his publications is EXPOSED: THE TOXIC CHEMISTRY OF EVERYDAY PRODUCTS AND WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR AMERICAN POWER (2009). Because I admire both authors for their exhaustive research and outraged passion, I will watch for their writings.

At the end of CIRCLE OF POISON, Weir and Schapiro argue that the only way to end corporate victimization is for Americans to recognize our common bonds with citizens of “poor countries”: “The reality of global corporate power, here reflected in the pesticide trade, forces us to seek solutions involving new ways of working with third world people for a worldwide redistribution of economic power. We must begin to see third world people not as a burden or a threat, but as allies” (70).

[P.S. Carrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written over 35 years ago, this book is another terrifying reminder of how evil and hopelessly currupt the central banks, corporations and governments that give them legal cover truly are. The dominance of the oil and chemical industry and the deadly poisons they profit from is unforgivable. The chemical compounds created by Nazi scientists then imported to the US are the basis of our sophisticated ag industry and we are all ingesting the toxins daily. The air, soil, food, water, and all of the daily products we use as consumers are loaded with poisons. As Vandana Shiva has said......we are still consuming the legacy of WW2. The nightmare it seems, will never be over until we are all dead.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for AP Environmental Science nad this book makes me so frustrated. It repeats itself and is extremely depressing. Don't read it.