Check on nurseries, too, for pesticide violations

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the state's nurseries violate federal pesticide regulations more than farm fields and other agricultural sites.

Last year, inspectors found 46 percent of the nurseries they inspected in violation of one or more pesticide law, compared with 33 percent of the state's fruit and vegetable farms. The Farmworker Association of Florida filed 123 complaints with the state this year, and most of them were at nurseries, not farms. Nurseries have grown exponentially -- the state has at least 4,161 -- because of the population and construction boom. The demand for plants to landscape new housing and commercial developments has drawn more than 35,000 people into jobs at nurseries.

Many nursery employees are new immigrants from Mexico and Central America, and the conditions in which they work are often more conducive to pesticide exposure than those in the fields. Nursery workers tend to spray pesticides in confined areas without maintaining safe buffer zones. Because of the rapid growth, too many employers have not taken the time to give employees adequate training. Language barriers are always a problem. Some workers, often undocumented, live in substandard housing on nursery property and are exposed to the pesticides they spray 24 hours a day. Farmworker advocates believe that the training and conditions on farms are generally better than at many nurseries, though the distinction is dubious.

A series of reports in The Post has shown that despite rising numbers of complaints from workers with symptoms of toxic exposure, the state remains indifferent to effective regulation of the industry. At any one time, only about 20 inspectors are on the job and trying to monitor the state's thousands of agriculture operations. Victims seeking compensation from civil courts have a hard time proving their cases because of the difficulty collecting evidence and linking illness to exposure. Many victims won't complain for fear of losing their jobs or other retaliation from employers. People without legal immigration status are reluctant to come forward.

Without stronger state regulation to prevent abuses, workers have no protection other than that which employers decide to give them. Hardworking people who are helping Florida's economy deserve better from the Legislature.