What do they spray on the Hop fields?

[angela12345]

Another strange question from myself .... If anyone remembers I asked earlier on in the year if others were suffering with ' breathlessness '. Nothing seemed to shift it for any length of time for long. Eventually , the GP gave me a course of anti=biotics for a chest infection.

Now , here I am months later and 3 lots of antibiotics later. 4 lots of Steroids later and it occurred to me: I live at the bottom of a Hop field. They are always spraying it. When they spray , they are completely covered up with white suit and some kind of ' head thing that has a mask around their whole nose and mouth .

It was this week when ( once again) they were spraying and even though I was inside I didn't feel well, very breathless, sore throat and have now been put on yet more steroids , I wondered ... Is this s coincidence ? Thanks .

'

[knitter]

Can you ask the owner of the hop field what they are using...surely they should warn you when they spray so you can close windows and keep inside.

[angela12345 in reply to knitter]

Thanks , you would think I could but I am terrified of him. He looks down on us ' lowly 'mortals.. And in all honestly , he has never told us when they are spraying... But, after you have said this , I will pluck up courage and ask my neighbour to ask :).

[Toci]

Probably best to make your doctor aware of the situation.

[angela12345]

Toci . I can in complete honesty tell you this : On Tuesday when I went again for support with my breathing I mentioned this to him. He said , I am in no position to answer this question but can say your not the first to ask !!!!

[Toci in reply to angela12345]

Oh. You have one of the really helpful ones, like me.

[phillips1]

Angela

Probably your best bet is a quick call to your local council's Health and Safety department. They have a bit more muscle than you.

Love from Bobby xx

[Hidden in reply to phillips1]

I would definitely do as Bobby says, angela, love anniseed xxx

[Hidden]

Hi Angela

Good advice from knitter, but whether the farmer or company spaying will tell you is another matter. The fact they are wearing protection when carrying out the spraying suggests its a toxic substance that can irritate airways and other body parts such as eyes skin.

I know when I was considering moving home there was one area I was looking at but it was right next to crop fields and the very thought about crop spraying was the one thing that put me off, that and likely visitations of mice etc.

I would be considering moving home if I was in your position but at least, ask about the timings of these sprayings and be sure you have all windows closed and do not have washing hanging outside when they do. Maybe also ask the company doing this if they will provide protective clothing for all residence in the vicinity with a fixed timetable of spray times. I would put this in writing and copy the environmental health officer separately or phone EH first about this situation regarding your health concerns.

I hope you can get something done about this what seems to be hazardous to health.

Good luck and let us know how things evolve.

Regards

BC

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

PS Environmental Health officer can be contacted through your local council.

I was wondering about involving the environment agency also:

environment-agency.gov.uk/

for more info, do a google search on 'environmental health, crop spraying' you could add your regional area to that search to find more localised information.

[angela12345]

Thanks very much all of you. Strangely enough before I moved here I was definitely better in health. I will phone the Council later ( have t go to see my GP). my eczema

[knitter]

Best of luck finding out what they are using.

Before my breathing problems started, I contracted scabies, which is caused by a burrowing mite under the skin, and my gp prescibed an insecticide (LIndane)treatment which is now banned.That used to be used on crops too

I often wonder how this may have affected me

[Puffthemagicdragon]

I used to be a " marker " for helicopter and fixed wing crop sprayers in the 70's. The main spray was Rogor E which is Dimethoate. we had no masks in those days as Heath and Safety wasn't a big issue then. I wonder what damage that did to me ?

environment-agency.gov.uk/b...

google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j...

[angela12345]

Hello All

Sorry I haven't been on here but have been feeling absolutely lousy ! The GP has put me on yet another course of Anti-biotics and Steroids ( 4 lots of Anti-biotics & 5th lot of Steroids in the last 4 moths).

I have emailed the Council about this on the very day I started this post ... I received an email from my Housing Manager telling me they were sending it to a ' senior ' member and would get back to me in due course....I wont hold my breath ( not that I can these days lol).

My neighbour and myself had been talking about the amount of times they have been spraying the fields lately and it has been so much more then usual.. The grass verges that surround the fields are now all looking very burnt. And unbelievably they were spraying in strong winds the day before I became very ill.

This probably isn't related but worth a mention... The day after the spray 2 cats have dropped dead ! The local Police have even put notes in our doors telling us it is suspected poisoning .

I am going to phone the Environmental Health department on Monday and will update this posts

Thank you all again for being here for me