Drone spraying crosses the line, pesticides hit rural mother, BAPHIQ will strengthen management
Riding a bike or walking in the countryside, do you actually have to worry about pesticides falling from the sky? A rural new mother surnamed Hsieh was riding her bike yesterday (the 11th) along Nanqiao Road in Yilan City when liquid suddenly splashed onto her left eye and face, and some of it flowed into her mouth. When she looked up, she was shocked to realize she had been hit by pesticides sprayed by a drone. She urgently found the field owner and the contractor spraying the pesticide and confirmed that the pesticide used was the insecticide permethrin. She washed first, then went home and sought medical treatment, and fortunately there was no serious harm.
Mother Hsieh was in the breastfeeding period, and because she feared her breast milk might be toxic, she stopped breastfeeding immediately. The emergency physician said that permethrin is a fat-soluble pesticide, and if ingested it can indeed enter breast milk, and advised her not to breastfeed for one week.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications promulgated the Regulations Governing the Management of Remotely Piloted Unmanned Aircraft, which only officially took effect on March 31 this year. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine admitted that at present there is only after-the-fact reporting, with no spot inspection or audit mechanism, and that in the future it will ask local governments to assist. If the public encounters accidental spraying, they can report the matter to the local government or BAPHIQ for handling.
Riding home while pesticides fell from the sky, mother feared breast milk was toxic and did not dare breastfeed
Near noon yesterday, Ms. Hsieh was riding her motorbike along Nanqiao Road in Yilan City when she was sprayed with pesticides by a drone carrying out a spraying mission. She immediately stopped and looked for the spraying contractor and the landowner. Hsieh relayed that the contractor and landowner responded, "During normal work our bodies also come into contact with it. This pesticide is harmless to humans. If you are worried, you can wash it off on the spot." She asked the contractor and landowner to provide the pesticide bottle for photographing as evidence, and the pesticide used by the contractor was permethrin.
Ms. Hsieh immediately went home, changed and washed her clothes, and showered her whole body. She also said that her child is currently under two years old and she is in the breastfeeding period. Because she worried about the risk of pesticide residues, she could only painfully stop letting her child drink breast milk right away. After washing, Hsieh went to the landowner's house, and the spraying contractor was already nowhere to be found. The landowner said that at the time the contractor had been introduced by another field owner, and after hearing "200 yuan per fen of land for spraying," he thought it was cheap and hired the contractor to spray in the field, but he did not know who the contractor was and had no contact information.
Ms. Hsieh said that after being sprayed with the pesticide, her left eye stung and the left side of her tongue felt numb, and she was emotionally devastated. Hsieh said that after 8 years of infertility and three failed rounds of artificial IVF, she had finally conceived naturally, and for that reason she changed her diet and paid special attention to food safety and nutrition. Then today she was sprayed with pesticide, and watching her child want milk but being unable to breastfeed, she could only soothe her son: "Mom is sorry. I was sprayed with pesticide while riding my motorbike. The milk is toxic and I cannot give it to you."
Drones solve labor shortages and support rational pesticide use, but accidental pesticide spraying should not happen
Hsieh then went to a nearby police station to report the matter. The police station said that if there is factual harm and it is proven to be criminal, the police can intervene; if there is no factual harm, it is a civil matter and not within police jurisdiction. Hsieh later went to the hospital for emergency care. After checking, the emergency physician said that permethrin is a fat-soluble pesticide, and if ingested it can indeed enter breast milk, but there is no research data showing effects on infants, and advised her not to breastfeed for one week.
Ms. Hsieh said that she also farms, and that drone contract spraying can solve the labor shortage problem in rural areas with an aging population. She is not opposed to pesticide use and supports rational pesticide use, but this kind of thing should not happen. Ms. Hsieh said: "What if today it had been a child who was sprayed? I hope I am the last case. It should not be possible to be riding a motorbike on a road in Yilan and have pesticide sprayed into your eyes and mouth. No matter whether the pesticide applied is highly toxic or not, this kind of thing should not happen!"
In addition, Mr. Chen, who lives near Ms. Hsieh's home, also said that a few days earlier he had just finished washing his child's clothes and hung them on the balcony, and the next morning at five o'clock they were sprayed by a pesticide-spraying drone. Because he worried the child would put the clothes in his mouth, once he found the child's clothes had been accidentally sprayed, he immediately threw all the clothes into the washing machine and washed them again.
Contract drone pilots rush for speed and cause accidents; drone pesticide spraying needs to be "slow and steady"
Hearing that drone pesticide spraying had harmed an innocent person, Mr. Cheng, head of Haolifu Agricultural Technology Company, which also provides drone contract spraying services, pointed out that drone spraying must be "slow" and "steady." The drift problem in spraying comes down to not being slow enough. Cheng said the company once experimented in a tea garden, at 2 m and 1.5 m from the crop, and the application effect was about the same; flight speed and wind speed are the key factors causing drift.
Mr. Cheng said that in the company's contract spraying service process, the most critical step is that the cooperating local pilot must confirm weather conditions; if wind speed or weather is poor, they cannot fly.
Cheng explained that at present the pesticides used by cooperating pilots in various places are provided by the client. In addition, during the spraying process, spraying must be stopped before takeoff, before landing, and whenever people pass by. "Neighboring fields and people being accidentally sprayed all happen because pilots rush for speed. A pilot who lets 'spraying people' happen is just too unprofessional!"
To save battery and rush for speed, safety distance and reasonable speed may be neglected
A drone contract spraying operator in the Gaoping area believes that accidentally spraying people really can happen. Operating procedures vary among operators in different places. When operating drones, the goal is to complete the task as quickly as possible, because battery power is limited. Time spent hovering and turning in the air is inefficient and consumes power. Generally, one battery lasts within 15 minutes. If colleagues in the industry speed up work to move on to the next site, they may indeed neglect safety distance and reasonable speed.
The operator explained that when working, he avoids times when crowds appear and keeps a safety distance of five meters, and during application pays attention to whether anyone is nearby. "Spraying people, or spraying on roads, is unprofessional. That is not an operating area at all." The operator said that currently the pesticides available in the country are all medium- and low-toxicity, and trace contact will not cause poisoning in people, but if industry colleagues are not careful, it will also give people a poor impression of drone contract spraying.
Pilot quality varies widely, and modified substandard drones fly everywhere
Mr. Zhong, general manager of Huanhong Agricultural Technology Company, the first person in the country to obtain a drone contract spraying license, said that before carrying out contract spraying work, a qualified pilot should confirm the execution range and whether there are obstacles at the site, and should also greet the landowner and nearby residents. In addition, during the mission they should pay attention to the spraying method.
Mr. Zhong explained that farmers seeking contract spraying services usually supervise the pilot's execution, but farmers generally believe that the finer the mist and droplets, the better the spraying effect, and they require pilots to do it that way. In fact, however, this is the most dangerous and has the highest probability of drift.
Mr. Zhong said that drone contract spraying is a recently emerged service, and many farmers cannot distinguish good pilots from bad ones and choose only by price, which also leads to uneven pilot quality. Many self-modified, substandard drones fly everywhere. "These unprofessional pilots will damage the reputation of this industry and may cause bad money to drive out good money."
BAPHIQ: audits of drone contract spraying have not yet begun; if sprayed, a person can seek compensation from the other party
Regarding this case, BAPHIQ said that drone contract spraying must obtain dual licenses issued by the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Council of Agriculture, and contract spraying must be carried out in the name of a legal person (for example: companies, schools, associations, etc.). The directory of drone contract spraying operators across Taiwan is published on the website. At present there are regulations on altitude and wind speed. Once a person is accidentally sprayed, it is handled like a traffic accident, and the person involved can seek compensation.
Hong Yutang, section chief of the Pesticide Section of the Plant Protection Division of BAPHIQ, said that the risk of drone contract spraying is far lower than ground contract spraying. At present there has only been a case of a neighboring pineapple field being accidentally sprayed, and he has not heard of people being accidentally sprayed. Operators carrying out contract spraying must comply with regulations, for example: they can only take off when wind speed is below 3 m, and the drone altitude must be within 4 m of the crop.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications promulgated the Regulations Governing the Management of Remotely Piloted Unmanned Aircraft, which only officially took effect on March 31 this year. BAPHIQ also admitted that at present there is only after-the-fact reporting, with no spot inspection or audit mechanism. It has allocated budgets to local governments, and in the future during busy farming seasons it will patrol farmland, just like spot checks for drunk driving, to confirm whether contract spraying operators are working in accordance with the law and to check pesticides.
Drone contract spraying operators who violate regulations can be fined 15,000 to 150,000
BAPHIQ Deputy Director-General Zou Huijuan explained that for all crops, the operating methods for drone contract spraying have been announced. Taking this case as an example, if a drone contract spraying operator fails to follow the regulations and use the pesticide diluted at the safe multiple, that violates the Pesticide Act, and the operator can be fined 15,000 to 150,000 yuan. The person involved can gather evidence and report it to the local government or BAPHIQ; the police have the power to impose penalties, and the person involved may also seek compensation.
Ms. Hsieh said that to constitute a criminal case, she and her child would have to have factual injuries. At present, only the qualifications for a civil lawsuit are met, but considering that she has to take care of her son and farm, she has not yet decided whether to seek compensation. The most important thing is that she and her son are fine. If she does seek compensation, it may be a symbolic claim of a few thousand yuan, and then donate it to a breastfeeding association.
Veterans General Hospital Toxicology Department: ingestion of more than 50 to 100 milliliters of the original liquid requires emergency medical treatment; minor contact is not serious
If accidentally sprayed with pesticide, will it affect health? Yang Chenchang, director of the Toxicology Department at Veterans General Hospital, responded that highly toxic pesticides have all been banned at present. Unless more than 50 to 100 milliliters of the pesticide original liquid is accidentally ingested and medical treatment is required, skin contact is minor and can be handled by washing quickly. If still worried, one can call the poison center for consultation.
Yang Chenchang said that whether poisoning occurs is related to contact area and dose. If the contact area is large, or the contact site is a fragile area such as the eyes, emergency treatment is needed. If the contact area is small and it is skin contact, there will be discomfort at first, but it is not serious. Yang said that even for children, the elderly, and pregnant women, according to foreign literature and the poison center's contact experience, contact with trace amounts of pesticides is not serious, and the results of contact with water-soluble and fat-soluble pesticides do not differ much. The real key is still the amount ingested.