November, 2000: California
|
|
Field of tulips. (Photo courtesy of Shimona Quazi.)
Floriculture, the cultivation and management of ornamental and flowering plants, is a $15 billion industry in the United States alone, according to a 1999 tracking study by the American Floral Endowment. The Society of American Florists, a trade group representing floriculturists, reports that the United States receives 64% of its imported cut flowers from Colombia, a country second to the Netherlands in world production of cut flowers. In the United States, California is the leading grower of cut flowers, retaining 65% of them for U.S. markets. However, watchdog groups such as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) are suggesting that pesticide residues in these flowers may be exposing both industry workers and consumers to harmful chemicals.
Just outside Bogota in Colombia, for example, cut flower suppliers employ 70,000 locals who work with flowers that have been treated with up to two dozen pesticides. These pesticides are routinely applied to maintain cosmetic standards set by markets in Europe and the United States. The overuse of pesticides is indirectly encouraged by aesthetic concerns, economic pressure to gain lucrative markets, competition to maintain high production, and the need to pass through Customs, which has a zero-tolerance policy toward pests and disease in imports.
Labor laws, environmental laws, and health standards exist for the floral industry at the local and international levels. For example, regulations require that work areas be adequately ventilated and that floral workers use safety equipment such as gloves, face masks, and special suits. Also, there is an industry bar of up to 48 hours before workers are allowed to enter sprayed greenhouse areas. However, some groups and individuals believe that these measures are inadequate for protecting floral workers:
- Christian Aid, an agency of the United Kingdom, maintains that only those companies with higher capital provide their workers with safety equipment. Therefore, Christian Aid urges retailers to do business with large, reputable companies only.
- Richard Wiles, vice president of research for EWG, asserts that workers have refused to wear protective clothing because these items interfere with their productivity.
- The findings of a 1999 analysis of pesticide poisonings in California by Pesticide Action Network North America confirmed that many California greenhouse workers required to wear gloves did not do so because of decreased dexterity.
- It has been suggested that workers, both foreign and domestic, are entering greenhouses in less than 48 hours after pesticide application.
The Society of American Florists and the Environmental Protection Agency are aware of potential health hazards to workers who do not use safety equipment. These two groups are working together to promote a safer work environment by developing informative literature and pesticide-training films in both English and Spanish. However, while workers may receive additional education and training, the consumer is still potentially at risk and unaware of possible pesticide residues. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service rightfully rejects shipments contaminated with insects or fungal growth, but it does not have the facilities or equipment to test imported flowers for pesticide residue. Wiles of the EWG tested for pesticide residue in eight random samples of roses purchased from retailers. One of the pesticides Wiles and his researchers reportedly found on one of the eight samples was iprodione, C13H13Cll2N3O3. Iprodione is a fungicide that inhibits germination of fungal spores and growth of fungal mycelium. Although Wiles’s group maintains that iprodione was detected at high levels, no published findings are available.
|
|
An example of a stone fruit in Rosaceae. (From Stern, Introductory Plant Biology, 8th ed., © 2000, McGraw-Hill Companies.)
Prickles on a stem. (From Stern, Introductory Plant Biology, 8th ed., ©2000, McGraw-Hill Companies.)
Roses, tulips and other bulbs, and carnations vie for popularity among American and European markets. The rose, Rosa spp., is in the Rosaceae family of dicots. Rosaceae includes apples, pears, and stone fruits such as plums, peaches, and cherries. In addition to the obvious economic value of this family as a food source, Rosaceae boasts many valuable ornamentals, from Cratageus (the hawthorne) to Rosa spp. (the roses). Rosa is characterized by surface prickles and alternate phylotaxy. Its showy, fragrant flowers are generally insect-pollinated and bisexual (having both male and female reproductive organs on the same flowers), with numerous stamens and carpels.
Tulips and lilies are members of the Liliaceae, one of the largest families of angiosperms. Most Liliaceae are herbs with swollen storage organs such as bulbs, corms, or rhizomes. The family has great economic value; its members include Allium sativum (garlic), A. cepa (onions), A. ampeloprasum (leeks), and A. schoenoprasum (chives). Medicinal genera, in addition to Allium, are further represented by the genus Aloe. Prized cultivars include Lilium (the lilies) and Tulipa (the tulips). Tulipa spp. are bulbs that have been subject to relentless hybridization over the past two centuries. Tulipa flowers are solitary, while other Liliaceae are borne in racemes or cymes (inflorescence types). Characteristic of monocots, Tulipa has parallel venation.
While by all accounts, pesticide exposure to the consumer through handling cut flowers has been unsubstantiated, you may want to think twice before tossing any store-bought petals into your salad or dancing the tango with a rose between your teeth.
References, Websites, and Further Reading
Warrick, Joby. 2000. Fresh cut flowers: Fragrant, beautiful–and often doused with pesticides. National Wildlife, June/July, pp. 12—14.
http://www.endowment.org/American Floral Endowment
http://www.ewg.org/ Environmental Working Group
http://www.safnow.org/Society of American Florists
Stern, Introductory Plant Biology, 8th Edition
Chapter 6: Stems
Phylotaxy and external morphology of a woody stem, pp. 82—88
Types of specialized stems, fig. 6.14, p. 96
Chapter 7: Leaves
Prickles, pp. 115—16
Chapter 8: Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds
Structure of flowers, fruits, fruit regions, kinds of fruits, pp. 127—48
Differences between dicots and monocots, table 8.1, p. 130
Labeled flower, fig. 8.5, p. 130
Inflorescence types, fig. 8.7, p. 131
Chapter 14: Plant Propagation and Biotechnology
Hybridization, pp. 243—44
Chapter 19: Kingdom Fungi and Lichens
Kingdom Fungi, pp. 334—52
Mycelium, p. 335
Spores, p. 336
Chapter 24: Flowering Plants and Civilization
Rosaceae, pp. 443—44
Liliaceae, pp. 454—56
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
If you have a question or a problem about a specific book or product, please fill out our Product Feedback Form.
For further information about this site contact mhhe_webmaster@mcgraw-hill.com
or let us know what you think by filling out our Site Survey.
