Overuse of pesticides is nothing new, but what sort of level of pesticide use would be necessary to get inside a factory and cause large numbers of workers to faint ? Was the farmer spraying into the factory airvents or what ?

Nearly 120 workers at a Kandal province toy factory fainted yesterday morning, with officials citing a nearby farmer spraying his fields with pesticide as the cause.

“The farmer of the rice field outside the factory area sprayed the liquid pesticide onto his rice, and then the smell spread into the factory where the workers were working. ..

The factory, PPNP Soya Toy Co in Khsach Kandal district, suspended production for the day, and was required to run its ventilation system for 24 hours to clear out the pesticide fumes before workers return today, according to the NSSF report...

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/m ... oy-factory

This raises the much bigger question about the type of chemicals, and the amount of chemicals, being used on Cambodian rice and produce.It seems to be something that nobody wants to think about too much.
Personally, I wash my rice, but does that remove all traces.? And what about the people living,working and eating around the ricefields ? What about the water ? I suspect that pesticide poisoning is going on all the time in the countryside but doesn't get reported, just because it happens all the time.
Those who live in the countryside should know more about this ?

472 factory workers fainted one after another, cause is unknown

Kandal: According to Koh Santepheap Daily News: around 09:30 am on 20 November, 472 factory workers in 7NG special economic zone located in Prey Chass village, Vihear Sour commune, Khsach kandal district, fainted one after another. They were sent to local health center for medical assistance. The cause is unknown.

Holy shit

Seems that some education on pesticides would be in order. Here, even a school teacher didn't realise that pesticides are poison and that he should take due care:

Three women and four kids fell ill after ingesting pesticides and were transported to a local hospital nearby yesterday in Kampong Chnang city.

The incident happened when a farmer began to spray his corn and bean crops with pesticides to kill insects. The farm is next to the home of the women and children who became sick...

Sok Socheat, the farmer who sprayed the presticides, is also a teacher at Kampong Chnang city high school and immediately went to the hospital and apologized to the women and children when he realized what he did...

http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17994/ ... esticides/

Hundreds of workers faint in Kandal SEZ



Hundreds of people working at six different factories in Kandal province’s 7NG Special Economic Zone fainted on Friday, with most blaming a pesticide that was believed to have caused a separate mass-fainting incident in the area a day earlier.

Un Yong, Khsach Kandal district’s deputy police chief, said about 300 workers fainted on Friday morning and were taken immediately to hospital.

“At that time, hundreds more workers tried to leave the factory and go back to their homes,” he said, explaining that it was difficult to know the exact number of those who fainted.

“The workers who fainted were not seriously ill.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/h ... ign=buffer

More than 100 people fainted due to pesticide sprayed inside the factory the night before. But nobody died so it's not serious.

Garment Workers Faint after Pesticide Sprayed
One hundred and seven women and one man fainted at the Orient International Enterprise (Cambodia) garment factory in Kampong Speu’s Samrong Torng district yesterday after pesticides were sprayed inside the factory the night before, according to police.

At about 10:30am workers started to faint, deputy district police chief Sreng Phirum said, adding that factory officials said that the day before, when the pesticide had been sprayed, all the windows and doors in the factory had been opened.

“Some factory workers reported to police that early in the morning when they were back at work they felt like there was something uncomfortable they were breathing, but they kept working without saying anything until around 10am, when they felt weak and could not work.

“Then they fell unconscious one by one,” Mr. Phirum said, adding that most of the victims of the fainting were in their 20s and none died as a result. All that needed treatment were sent to hospital, paid for by the company...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25565/ ... e-sprayed/

mass or group hysteria is a known phenomenon.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria

nothing new.

SinnSisamouth wrote:mass or group hysteria is a known phenomenon.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria

nothing new.

Pesticide poisoning also : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_poisoning

Overuse of pesticides is nothing new, but what sort of level of pesticide use would be necessary to get inside a factory and cause large numbers of workers to faint ? Was the farmer spraying into the factory airvents or what ?

Another mass fainting. Another reason. It doesn't make sense. SinnSisamouth is right IMO.

These women faint en masse because they hate what they are doing and where the are and have no choice. It is a sort of involuntary protest. The price of a neoliberal globalized world. And, if thought about enough, almost a little offensive for that world to act like there is some detail wrong with the factory that can be fixed and make it better for them, when the real problem is rooted in a world that puts them in a factory.