Children Now 10951 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 (213) 470-2444 663 13th Street Oakland, CA 94612 (415) 763-2444 926 "J" Street Suite 413 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 441-2444 Permission to copy, disseminate or otherwise use this work is normally granted as long as ownership is properly attributed to Children Now. ©1990, Children NowTM Chairman MILLER. Thank you. Obviously, in many of these instances, children need agents on their behalf. And the most readily available one is the parent. But I guess one of the questions I have is, how do you go about this education process of parents? You know, with respect to maybe the most outstanding dangers that people identify in terms of garden sprays, and household sprays, and others that may be kept under the sink, and whathave-you. You kind of relate to not telling your children not to go near them, or you store them in some other place. But with the more, less obvious exposures and potential for danger, how do you plan to get to parents to explain this to them? Because they are, in fact, the agents for certainly the very young children. Ms. HUGHES. That was one of our aims of preparing this book, was to provide that kind of information in a way in which parents might confront the problems. We organized the threats that children face in terms of the context in which they are likely to be exposed so that both parents and others can begin to understand, to identify the problems and then find the solutions, removing them from the context in which they appear. It is an ongoing process, and there are a number of people that are working around the country to inform parents about the threats that their children face. And the conference tomorrow is one more step, because pediatricians have an important role in informing parents and children about threats that exist. I think that there is another step that we have to take, though. And that is to encourage parents to become involved in the political process, both in communities on a local level, to organize among their friends, to share information about potential threats, to work with school boards to remove hazards that exist in the schools. But also to ensure that our public representatives have made the same commitment the parents make to ensure the health and safety of their children. Chairman MILLER. Barbara. Mrs. BOXER. As you were talking, and as Mr. Miller was questioning you, I like the way you present your paper. It is very clear. And you are saying, "Let's follow a child around: where the child lives, where the child goes to school, where the child plays." And some of these lend themselves to public policy, such as where the child goes to school and where the child plays in a public playground. So it seems to me, Mr. Chairman, what we might want to see, is if there are ways coming out of this hearing, we could put together some kind of a program, maybe a model program, for grants to go to school districts to assist them in making these assessments. And an action plan so that we know things will be taken care of. We did it with asbestos removal. The money was very slow in coming, but at least it got it started. So I just want to thank you for your testimony. It was very clear. And it seems to me cities have got grants where we said, "Do an assessment of your playgrounds, and let us know if it is safe. And if it is not, what will it take, and how can we help?" It may be a way for the Federal Government to be the impetus in this type of a clean-up. Thank you. Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, I do not have any questions. I just wanted to thank Ms. Hughes and Mr. Steyer. I was particularly impressed by their focusing on risks to poorer children. And I think very dramatically pointing out that this is not a problem that children are going to solve; it is a problem that we have to solve for them. And thanks very much for your concern and your interesting testimony. Mr. STEYER. Thank you very much. And we hope we will be following up on this, both as Children NOW and with our colleagues among the committee, and also in the environmental movement. So thank you very much. Chairman MILLER. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. The next panel will be made up of Ramona and Gonzolo Ramirez, who are farmworkers from Earlimart, California. And they will be accompanied by Ciro Cuellar, who is a member of the Earlimart Cancer Task Force in Earlimart, California, and Dr. Salvador Sandoval, who is the General Practitioner at the Childs Avenue Health Center in Merced, California, and Tomas Hill, who is the Director of the Tri-County Head Start Program in Fresno, Monterey, and San Bonito County. Welcome to the committee. Come forward and take your seat. My understanding is that Ramona Ramirez is home with her daughter, who was also going to testify, who is suffering from tonsillitis today. So even as we speak, one of our children is ill. But welcome to the committee. And again, your written statement will be put in the record. Whatever supporting documents you wish to provide to the committee will be made a part of the record of this hearing. And you proceed in the manner in which you are most comfortable. How do you want to do this? Mr. Ramirez? Mr. CUELLAR. I have to translate. Chairman MILLER. Yes, you are going to translate, Mr. Cuellar, for him. Fine. STATEMENT OF GONZOLO RAMIREZ, FARMWORKER, EARLIMART, CA, ACCOMPANIED BY CIRO CUELLAR, MEMBER OF EARLIMART CANCER TASK FORCE, EARLIMART, CA [Mr. Ramirez speaking in Spanish.] Mr. CUELLAR. I am going to translate it. So what he is saying is that he would like to suggest that, on this issue, for a lot of years nothing has been done. In the past, a lot of this came to focus, that Chairman MILLER. I am going to ask you to speak up, because people in the back of the room want to hear his testimony, also. Mr. CUELLAR. Thank you. What he was trying to say was that he would like to see justice done from this issue of the pesticides. In the past, the farmworkers have been struggling, suffering, exposed to pesticides and all kinds of toxins. So he would like to see that something could be done in this respect. [Mr. Ramirez speaking in Spanish.] Mr. CUELLAR. Okay, what he is saying is that you, the Congressman in Washington that oversees this, would like to see some enforcement. Because it not only affects the farmworkers, but the people that consume the fruits and vegetables that comes out of his valley. So I think what he was trying to say is that the laws are not being enforced. And how to ensure them is by, from the County to the State level, the lack of resources or enforcement. So I think that is what he is trying to say. [Mr. Ramirez speaking in Spanish.] Mr. CUELLAR. First of all, he says he would like to thank God for getting-what he is trying to say in regard to his daughter. Sooner or later the truth has to come out that, the side for these chemicals and pesticides is going to come out, even though they keep saying there is not scientific evidence. Because that is one of the theories that the baby issue and the pesticides. So sooner or later, it has to come out. [Mr. Ramirez speaking in Spanish.] Mr. CUELLAR. He says that he blames the pesticides, in working where he worked there was four families close, who have had kids who have cancer. I have here with me a package of material that could be passed out outlining the children of Chairman MILLER. We have some of that. Committee members have that. Mr. CUELLAR. Okay. In case somebody is interested in this material. Now, going back a little bit, he also said that even though they have come forward and exposed this issue, even some of the farmworkers have been intimidated, by the employer or when they speak out on this issue. So- [Mr. Ramirez speaking in Spanish.] Mr. CUELLAR. He understands that the struggle is hard. And it is the little people that get the giant-I think what he is trying to say is the agri-business, or the chemical companies, which is the giant people. But with the help of you people, and the people that follow the environmental movement, and the help of God, I think it will come forward. That is all, thank you. Chairman MILLER. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Sandoval? [Prepared statement of Ramona Ramirez follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF RAMONA RAMIREZ, FARMWORKER, EARLIMART, CA My name is Ramona Ramirez. I've lived in Earlimart since 1974 and my husband since 1976. We were married in 1977, and have both worked in the fields for the past 11 years. My husband and I work 10 hours a day to make monthly mortgage payments on our home. I work in the packing shed, packing almonds five days a week, while my husband works on a tractor in the fields six days a week. I worked in the fields when I was eight months pregnant with daughter Natalie. During my pregnancy, working in the fields was very hard. It was very hot and very humid, with dust picking up everywhere. At lunch time, there would be no place to eat out there except underneath the grapevines. We couldn't help but breathe the chemicals used on the fields. My husband and I believe that the pesticides are the blame for our daughters illness. When Natalie was 11 months old, she first showed signs of cancer and was diagnosed in 1986. For the past 7 months, she has been in remission from the Wilm's tumor. Doctors at the Valley Childrens Hospital in Fresno, had to remove Natalie's left kidney because of the cancer. While Natalie was in the hospital, I quit my job to be with her, so she could also receive chemotherapy treatments. It was like a prison sometimes, Natalie would want to come home, especially when she was feeling better, but couldn't. While I stayed overnight with Natalie in the hospital, my husband would sometimes sleep in his pickup. Sometimes the doctor would let him stay with me. The hospital charges $7 per night, which is nothing if you have money, but when your in a situation like ours, then that's a lot of money. We both thank God and are very greatful that our daughter is healthy and doing fine now. STATEMENT OF SALVADOR SANDOVAL, M.D., FAMILY PRACTITIONER AT THE CHILDS AVENUE HEALTH CENTER; COORDINATOR OF THE LOWER WESTERN STREAM FOR THE MIGRANT CLINICIANS' NETWORK, MERCED, CA Dr. SANDOVAL. First of all, I work in the Farmworker Clinic about 120 miles north of about 100 miles north of Earlimart. I have been in the area for about 14 years, and as a physician, I can attest that medical training for physicians is pretty weak in the area of occupational and environmental medicine. I had to take extra courses. Over the years, I have seen a lot of effects of pesticides, mainly on adults. What affects the adults is going to affect children. And I will give a few examples of that. I have seen problems from acute poisonings to skin problems; asthma that I believe was induced by the chemicals; pneumonia; peripheral neuropathies, that is a problem with the nerves in the feet and the arms; Parkinson's Disease; heart disease; and neurobehavioral effects that I feel were- Chairman MILLER. We need you to speak right into that microphone. Dr. SANDOVAL. Okay. Over the 14 years that I have lived in the area, I have been concerned about-we have heard of contamination of water in several of the towns. And also we have seen increased concern about food residues with pesticides. Some of this is not still very well clarified, in terms of the health effects. Specifically, in terms of children, I have seen issues that have concerned me. For example, three years ago there was a spraying of a town about six miles from where our clinic is. And there were 300 people evacuated; about 30 people went to the hospital locally with symptoms. They were not tested, although the name of the chemical was available to the emergency facility. We saw, in our clinic, three different families, including children, seven to 10 days later. Tested them, and they still showed effects of the chemical. This had been called mass hysteria officially in the local newspaper. One of the children was admitted with pneumonia. The child had asthma before the incident. But the timing of the pneumonia was about a few days after the spill. And we heard of one child that was a newborn, that had been brought home, and developed seizures shortly afterwards and was sent to a tertiary care center. She was not examined by us. I see often families that complain-not necessarily farmworkers, either-they complain of symptoms after spraying. And this includes children. The problems are not just with the chemicals. I |