Please see our story posted under iNews Briefs today “Cayman Islands dog owner loses his pet due to paraquat poisoning”.

This is another case of Cayman Islands pets being killed in the most agonizing way known from the pesticide paraquat.

Even though Paraquat has been banned in many countries, including all belonging to the European Union and now even China, it has not been banned here despite many, many requests and petitions.

I can only ask again why? It doesn’t make sense.

In the United States it is classified as “restricted commercial use,” and people must obtain a license to use the product. It is, however, banned from home use.

There is more cost efficient and less dangerous alternatives readily available on the market said the Malaysian government when they banned the pesticide.

The largest manufacturer of paraquat is Syngenta and the chemical is even very dangerous to anybody who uses it. There is no antidote to paraquat poisoning and is one of the largest products used by humans to commit suicide, even though the death is agonizing.

Even breathing in paraquat may cause lung damage and can lead to a disease called paraquat lung. Paraquat causes damage to the body when it touches the lining of the mouth, stomach, or intestines. You can get sick if Paraquat touches a cut on your skin. Paraquat may also damage the kidneys, liver, and esophagus.

If paraquat is swallowed, death can rapidly occur. Death may occur from a hole in the esophagus, or from acute inflammation of the mediastinum, the area that surrounds the major blood vessels and airways in the middle of the chest.

Chronic exposure to paraquat may cause pulmonary fibrosis, a stiffening of the lung tissue.

With annual sales of US$ 430 million (seven percent of total turnover), paraquat, marketed by Syngenta under the brand name Gramoxone, is the most successful product of the Swiss company. With reference to the international NGO-campaign for a worldwide ban of paraquat, Syngenta told analysts of the Deutsche Bank that “it seems unlikely the product will be forced out of the market by regulators”.

The company seems to know something I don’t.

Even the executive director of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Development until September 1, 2002, in a letter to Berne Declaration he said he “shared the concern about the safe handling of paraquat under small farming conditions in developing countries” after Syngenta’s CEO Michael Pragnell affirmed the product’s safety and stressed its importance, e.g. for Chinese subsistence farmer.

Since that statement China banned the product in 2012 after it was learned local farmers were mysteriously falling ill and dying.

Today, paraquat is banned in over 30 countries due to its severe impacts on human health. This latest ban comes after years of hard work by PAN China (PEAC), and is particularly significant because China is the world’s largest manufacturer of the chemical, producing more than 100,000 tons of parquat per year. As PAN China’s Sun Jing says, this is a significant win for “the health and life of millions of people in China.”

How many more animals have to die from paraquat? The most horrifying fact about that is most of the pet deaths from paraquat are deliberate.

When a child dies from paraquat poisoning it will unfortunately be only then when action is taken.

Cayman acted quickly to the ridiculous ban from plane passengers from Ebola hit countries when our visiting aircraft are mainly from USA, Canada and UK. We have cruise ships visiting the majority of the days.

We had meat banned from the UK because of Foot and Mouth disease there.

Folks. Paraquat is a bigger danger than any of those and it is here on our doorstep and totally uncontrolled.

Wake up!! BAN PARAQUAT!!!

How many more Editorials must I write on this subject? Any bets? Oh, of course, betting is banned here!

SOURCES: MedlinePlus, Bernedeclaration, PAN-Pesticide Action Network