To produce these perfect bananas, plantations depend on high levels of agrochemical use. The silence in the plantations exemplifies the deadly impacts of this type of banana production. There are no bird songs or animal calls because there is no longer any wildlife in the plantations. The impacts of improper use must also be considered, since many banana workers use pesticides without sufficient training. Although plantations have special clothing for pesticide applicators, such clothing is rarely used because of the hot weather.
Official statistics reveal that two workers are poisoned by pesticides every day.
In reality, the numbers are higher due to the fact that not all accidents are reported, and these reports do not include temporary or chronic diseases, such as asthma, allergies, cancer and reproductive problems caused by use of the poisons. In addition to contaminating nearby homes and water, aerial fumigation poisons plantation workers when spraying occurs while they are working. Many people do not have access to water in their homes and because there are no other water sources, they must use the pesticide-tainted rivers to bathe, to wash clothes and for drinking water. A new study by the Pesticide Program of the National University in Costa Rica found pesticides in the Rio Suerte Basin that drains into the Nature Conservation Area of Tortuguero. Sampling sites were selected in drainage channels near banana fields and packing plants, streams near banana plantations and the river.