Cross-border hazard and cross-border justice: The Case of DBCP

The now-obsolete pesticide chemical DBCP was produced in the United States and sold across our borders to Central America, the Philippines, West Africa and elsewhere; even after the chemical was found to cause sterility in male workers and was highly restricted within the United States. The international trade of DBCP, authorized by US policy, left developing world agricultural workers at greater risk than their US counterparts. Today, workers in Central America who suffer from DBCP-induced sterility have mounted grassroots campaigns for compensation for their health problems. Their efforts have included innovative direct action and legislative solutions that have also reached across borders, involving international unions, solidarity organizations, and transnational litigation. The DBCP experience offers the opportunity to understand the public health policies that enable the export of hazard from the United States, as well as to examine innovative responses to those policies.