ABSTRACT
This is a study of the impacts of a pesticide ban on workers. The study was undertaken with a concern that chemical regulation policy decisions often ignore the impacts on workers, partly because of power relations and partly because there is no systematic way to examine the effects of removing a chemical from the work environment.
Plucking a chemical from the web of use and production has social and economic consequences. This study attempts to document the ripple effects of the removal of the agrochemical Alar on industry, manufacturers, farmers, and farm workers. The Alar study vividly demonstrates that chemicals are versatile. They perform functions, both positive and negative, other than those that are advertised, so the impact of their removal can be profound.
It is also a story about information, specifically, how important information was excluded from the political process with detrimental effects. What follows is the history of Alar; its “voluntary withdrawal”; and the effects of its removal on two industries (the chemical industry and the Massachusetts apple industry), workers in these industries, and the public health.
