Using toxic preservatives on onions, 800 people have eye damage

To prevent onions from rotting or being attacked by insects, farmers in Vinh Chau (Soc Trang) mix white clay with mipcin and apply it to the onions. The toxic substance methyl parathion in mipcin flies into people's eyes and causes inflammation.

A representative of the Vinh Chau Red Cross said that more than 800 people here have gone blind due to onion cultivation. Of these, 267 people are blind in both eyes, the rest are blind in one eye, greatly affecting their daily activities.

Harvesting purple onions in Vinh Chau town

According to Huynh Van Hong, Head of Vinh Chau Town Health Department, blindness in Vinh Chau has existed for more than ten years. The cause of the disease is recommended by the health sector as dust during the harvesting of purple onions and onions that irritates the eyes, so rubbing them with hands causes inflammation and corneal ulcers.

According to local health statistics, each year about 300 people in Vinh Chau go to medical facilities for eye examination and surgery. Most of them are families who regularly come into contact with the onion harvesting process.

The entire town has more than 7,000 hectares of purple onions, concentrated in Vinh Hai, Lac Hoa, Lai Hoa, Vinh Tan, Vinh Chau communes, Ward 2, Vinh Phuoc ward... Previously, people used the toxic chemical DDT to preserve onions after each crop. Now this substance has been banned. To prevent onion seeds from rotting or being attacked by insects, many people mix white clay with the drug mipcin to brush on the onions.

Ophthalmologists say that mipcin contains methyl parathion. This is a toxic substance that, if it gets into the eyes, will cause inflammation and damage the eyes in the long term.

According to (NNVN)-LC