My first job (besides babysitting) was detasseling corn in the Midwest. I was 13 years old and had just graduated the 8th grade. The hours were long, days hot as hell and the pay pretty bad. I was sick as a dog after the first day and passed out (literally) on the machine. That was enough for me to say no no no. Never again.
Now, just last week, 15 corn detasselers came into contact with dangerous herbicide on a farm, north of Conrad, in central Iowa. The victims were taken to Central Iowa Healthcare as a precaution, where they were treated to a decontamination shower. They were expected to be released within a couple of days.
Many of the workers immediately began to have trouble breathing or had sore eyes or itchy throats. Marshalltown police asked residents to avoid the area of South Third Avenue and Church Street in order to continue the needed decontamination operation.
Surprisingly, it had been a tractor, not a plane, that sprayed the workers.
From the article:
“Fire crews were notified around 4:35 p.m. Thursday that a MONSANTO crew had been contaminated when the wind carried an herbicide being applied by a ground sprayer into the area they were working.”
The Marshalltown Police Department assisted with traffic control as people were urged to avoid the area.
I used to detassel corn when I was younger- I’m so thankful this never happened to me (the job is crazy hard work). Our thoughts go out to the workers, we pray they won’t suffer any short or long term disability from being sprayed. Scary.
Source: KCRG ABC 9
