Parents talk about being sprayed with pesticides

RALEIGH — A woman who had a child without arms or legs has told the state Pesticide Board she was sprayed repeatedly with pesticides while pregnant as she worked at a North Carolina
tomato farm.

Twenty-two-year-old Francisca Herrera testified Wednesday she was repeatedly exposed to pesticides at the farm run by Ag-Mart.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday’s testimony was the first from workers in the case.

Herrera says supervisors ignored her complaints of frequent headaches and stomach pains.

The board is considering if Ag-Mart violated worker safety laws. The Florida company denies that and says it will offer testimony when the hearing resumes in November from a worker who will testify she was never sprayed.

Ag-Mart attorney Mark Ash said Herrera’s testimony proved nothing.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)