Workers Say Pesticides Made Them Sterile

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site says the chemical was used as a fumigant on more than 40 different crops in the U.S. until it was largely phased out by 1979.

Long-term exposure to the pesticide causes male reproductive problems, including decreased sperm count, according to the site, which lists DBCP as a "probable human carcinogen."

In April, all five lawsuits were placed under the jurisdiction of Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney. The legal actions involve claims on behalf of workers from Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Other growers and manufacturers are named as defendants.

The lawsuit filed by Miller claims Dow and Amvac knew about DBCP's toxicity as early as the 1950s, and that scientists employed by Dow had noted atrophied testes in laboratory animals exposed to the pesticide.

"Defendants, however, continued to market, sell and use pesticide products containing DBCP outside of the United States, including Nicaragua," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claims the pesticide was sprayed under tree canopies and fell in droplets onto workers and seeped into the water supply.

Plantation workers were allowed to ingest and bathe in contaminated water when they lived in company-supplied housing on Nicaraguan banana plantations, the lawsuit said.

Dole neither warned the workers of the dangers of exposure nor tried to protect them by issuing gloves, safety glasses or masks, the lawsuit claims.

Joe Fisher, an attorney representing workers in several of the other pending lawsuits, believes the case will get widespread attention.

"I think everyone has their eye on it to see how a jury treats it," he said.

If the case has "a good result I think there's a chance it could benefit all the banana workers," he said.