From Associated Press via Fox News

Difficulties breathing, abdominal pain and vomiting. These are the symptoms experienced by Ugandan women working at a flower farm who were told to cut flowers in greenhouses that had been fumigated with a toxic chemical a day before.

More than 80 Ugandan women accuse a Dutch-owned flower exporter of exposing them to a toxic fumigant, in a case that suggests the difficult conditions faced by African workers at the lowest end of the lucrative international flower industry.

The women were sickened by metam sodium, a soil fumigant widely used internationally as an agricultural pesticide, The Associated Press learned in interviews with some of the women, the leader of a trade union, lawyers and a manager at the flower exporter, Royal Van Zanten.

The women charge that known safety regulations were violated when they were ordered to work in a greenhouse just 24 hours after fumigation in mid-October. Many of the women were hospitalized and some said their jobs were threatened if they did not return to work or sought treatment at clinics not authorized by Royal Van Zanten.

“These actions amount to violence against women, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” said Irene Ovonji Odida, the leader of an association of female lawyers known as FIDA Uganda. “In our view, the actions of Royal Van Zanten … violate Ugandan laws, European Union and global standards on business, investment and human rights.”

At least four women were hospitalized weeks after the incident on Oct. 14, according to FIDA Uganda, which said it had collected evidence to support a possible criminal or civil case against Royal Van Zanten. Further tests are being done to establish whether the women will suffer lasting health problems, the group said.

Metam sodium is a “probable human carcinogen” that is highly toxic to mammals, birds and fish, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which categorizes the fumigant as a “restricted use pesticide”

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