Flowers, Diamonds, and Gold: The destructive public health, human rights and environmental consequences of symbols of love

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Flowers, Diamonds, and Gold The destructive
public health, human rights and environmental
consequences of symbols of love

• Martin Donohoe

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Say it with flowers
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The Floriculture Industry

• 30 billion cut flower industry
• Major producers Holland, Columbia, Kenya,
  Zimbabwe, Ecuador, India, Mexico, China, Malaysia
• Only 1/3 of cut flowers sold in U.S. are domestic
  - most from CA
• Worlds largest producer Dole Fresh Flowers

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The Floriculture Industry

• 190,000 workers in developing countries
• Ecuador and Columbia account for ½ of flowers
  sold in U.S.
• Most profit flows to large, multinational
  corporations, headquartered outside producing
  countries
• Small amount reinvested locally

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Floriculture and Women

• Predominantly female workforce
• Low wages
• No benefits
• Short contract cycles
• Child labor, dismissal for pregnancy, unpaid
  overtime common

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Floriculture and Labor

• Labor organizers harassed, workers fired for
  trying to organize unions
• Third party contractors shuffle workers from
  plantation to plantation, avoiding payment of
  social security and inhibiting union organizing

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Floriculture and the Environment

• Floriculture displaces crops grown for local food
  consumption
• Contributes to malnutrition and increased local
  food costs
• Requires large quantities of irrigation water
• 120 liters/dozen roses
• Contributes to drop in water tables

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Floriculture Toxic Exposures

• Flowers most pesticide-intensive crop
• Greenhouses increase ambient levels of pesticides
• 1/5 of pesticides banned or untested in U.S.
• Carcinogens, persistent organic
  pollutants/endocrine disruptors

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Floriculture Toxic Exposures

• Flowers carry up to 50X the amount of pesticides
  allowed on foods
• USDA inspects for pests, but not pesticides

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Floriculture Health Effects

• Over 50 of workers have symptoms of
  organophosphate pesticide exposure
• Other common health problems
• Allergic reactions, heat stroke, pneumonitis,
  RSI, cellulitis, UTIs, neuropathies, mental
  health problems, cancers, reproductive problems
  (low sperm counts, spontaneous abortions, fetal
  anomalies, etc.)

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Floriculture Health Effects

• Labeling, handling, and storage problems rampant
• Protective gear often lacking, not working
• Reuse of pesticide-saturated greenhouse plastic
  for domestic purposes not uncommon
• Workers wash / bathe children in same sink

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Floriculture Health Effects

• Local physicians poorly-trained, lack resources
  to manage pesticide-related health problems
• Many providers employed by floriculture company
• Conflict of interest

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Diamonds

• Symbols of wealth, power, love, and magical
  powers
• Created from carbon early in the earths history
  under extreme temperature and pressure
• Discovered in India around 800 B.C.
• Commercial mining began in 1866 in South Africa

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World Diamond Mine Production(1995-2011)
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Diamond Production

• Antwerp, Tel Aviv, New York and Mumbai (Bombay)
  major trading centers
• Most cutting done in Surat (India), Tel Aviv,
  Antwerp, Mumbai, New York and Thailand
• Major retail markets U.S. and Japan
• Annual retail sales 71 billion (2011)

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Kimberley Mine, SAYielded 3 tons of diamonds,
Closed 1914
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Mirny Diamond Mine, SiberiaLargest open diamond
mine in the world
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The Diamond Engagement Ring

• Diamond engagement ring introduced in 1477
  (Archduke Ferdinand ? Mary of Burgundy)
• De Beers Mining Company
• Founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1888
• Responsible for 40-45 of worldwide diamond
  production and sales

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Cecil Rhodes(Rhodesia, Rhodes Scholarship,
DeBeers Mining Company)

• We must find new lands from which we can easily
  obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit
  the cheap slave labour that is available from the
  natives of the colonies. The colonies would also
  provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods
  produced in our factories.

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Diamond Rings

• 1939 DeBeers hires N.W. Ayer and Company to make
  diamonds a psychological necessitythe larger
  the diamond, the greater the expression of love.
• By 1942, 80 of engagements in U.S. consecrated
  with diamond rings (still true today)

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Diamond Rings

• 1947 A diamond is forever slogan born
• Jewelers instructed to tell (pressure?) men - who
  buy 90 of all diamonds to spend at least 2
  months salary on the ring

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Diamond Rings

• 1999 Advertising Age magazine declares A
  Diamond is Forever slogan the most effective of
  the 20th Century
• Recognized by 90 of Americans
• 1999 De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer
  Diamonds are intrinsically worthless, except for
  the deep psychological need they fill

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Diamonds Profits and Losses

• 144 million carats rough diamonds mined for
  jewelry per year
• Worth approximately U.S.15 billion
• 1 carat diamond retails for 4,000-7,500 in the
  U.S.
• Cost less than 2 billion to extract
• Ultimately sell for over 71 billion

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Diamonds Profits and Losses

• Workers desperately poor but hoping to strike it
  rich in casino economy
• 1 million in Africa
• Work under dangerous, unhealthy conditions for
  pittance
• Diamonds may be embedded in asbestos
• Workers suffer from cancer, leukemia, silicosis

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Diamonds Profits and Losses

• Middlemen, diamond dealers and exporters earn the
  lions share of profits
• Most foreign nationals
• Very little profit re-invested in local
  communities

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Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism

• Mine owners violate indigenous peoples rights
  via destruction of traditional homelands and
  forced resettlement
• Mining hastens environmental degradation of
  ecosystems already under severe stress

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Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism

• Diamonds have been used by rebel armies in the
  Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola,
  Liberia, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone to pay for
  weapons used to fight brutal civil wars
• 3.8 million deaths
• Child soldiers
• Forced labor
• Sex slavery, HIV
• Terrorize local populations

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Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism

• Al Qaeda and Hizbollah have used diamond monies
  to
• Fund terror cells
• Hide money targeted by financial institutions
• Launder profits from criminal activity
• Convert cash into a commodity that is easily
  transportable and holds its value

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Diamonds Human Rights Abuses, Conflict and
Terrorism

• Smuggled and illicit conflict diamonds may amount
  to as much as 10-15 of diamond jewelry sold
  worldwide
• U.S. State Dept.
• 20
• Global Witness

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Gold

• Dominant role throughout history in the growth of
  empires and the evolution of the worlds
  financial institutions

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Uses of Gold

• 80-90 of gold mined today turned into jewelry
• 10-20 used by industry
• Used by Catherine de Medici as poison and by
  physicians to treat rheumatoid arthritis

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History of Gold

• 4000 B.C. gold first fashioned into decorative
  objects
• By 1500 B.C. the standard medium of exchange for
  international trade
• Mid-1800s Gold Rushes in California and South
  Africa

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Gold Production

• Top producers China, Australia, United States,
  Russia, South Africa, Peru
• 2500 tons mined each year
• Valued at 21 billion
• Typical piece of gold jewelry sells for at least
  4 times the value of the gold itself

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The Wedding Ring

• Formulated from a variety of minerals throughout
  history
• As with diamonds, aggressive marketing has played
  a significant role in popularizing the gold
  wedding band

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Gold MiningThe Myth
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Gold MiningThe Reality
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Gold Mining

• Artisanal (15 million people, including 3 million
  women and children)
• Corporate (few major corporations)

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MiningThe Worlds Deadliest Industry

• Tens of thousands killed mining gold and other
  minerals over the last century
• 40 killed per day presently

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MiningThe Worlds Deadliest Industry

• Local communities suffer environmental damage,
  pollution, dislocations
• STDs rampant, spread by miners to wives and
  children

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The Resource Curse

• Dependence upon gold mining slows/reverses
  economic growth, increases poverty, and
  encourages governmental corruption

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The Resource Curse

• ½ of gold produced worldwide between 1995 and
  2015 has or will come from indigenous peoples
  lands
• Rural and indigenous peoples evicted without
  prior consultation, meaningful compensation, or
  the offer of equivalent lands elsewhere

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The Resource Curse

• Benefits go to corrupt central governments and
  overseas corporations
• Little returned to local communities
• Casino economy

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Environmental Destruction

• ¾ of active gold mining and exploration sites
  overlap with regions of high conservation value,
  such as National Parks and World Heritage Sites

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Gold MiningGold Cyanide Mercury

• At least 18 tons of mine waste created to obtain
  the gold for a single 3 oz., 18k ring
• Gold leached from ore using cyanide

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Gold MiningGold Cyanide Mercury

• Mercury used to capture gold particles as an
  amalgam
• Mercury converted to methylmercury in environment
• Significant neurotoxin
• Minamata Disease
• 30 of global mercury pollution due to gold
  mining (major source coal-fired power plants)

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Minamata DiseaseW Eugene Smith
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Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage

• Contaminated groundwater often sits in large
  toxic lakes held in place by tenuous dams
• Release of cyanide and mercury into local
  waterways kills fish, harms fish-eating animals,
  and poisons drinking water

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Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage

• Omai gold mine in Guyana (one of the largest
  open-pit mines in the world)
• Tailings dam failed in 1995
• 3 billion cubic liters of cyanide-laden tailings
  renders downstream 32 miles of Omai River, home
  to 23,000 people, an environmental disaster zone

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Gold MiningEnvironmental Damage

• Baia Mare gold mine in Romania
• Tailings dam broke in 2000
• 100,000 metric tons of toxic wastwater spilled
• Fish killed, other animals harmed, drinking water
  of 2.5 million people in Danube River watershed
• Coastal dumping of gold mine waste elsewhere
  damages estuaries and coral reefs

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Gold Other Health and Environmental Harms

• Mercury pollution contributes to the spread of
  malaria
• Gold smelting uses large amounts of energy and
  releases SO2, nitrogen dioxide, and other
  components of acid rain

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Gold Other Health and Environmental Harms

• Release of lead into soil and air causes lead
  poisoning
• Epidemic of lead poisoning in Nigeria
• Silica exposure causes silicosis
• Increases risk of TB

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Gold Other Health and Environmental Harms

• Water tables decline due to pumping of enormous
  quantity of water to release gold from ore
• Toxic pollution from gold mines affects 100
  million people worldwide
• Living near a gold mine costs 12.7 DALY loss
  (i.e., productive lifespan cut by 12.7 yrs)

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Gold Mining Harms Women

• By displacing agriculture (where women play a
  major role), removes women from labor force
• Concentrates economic power in hands of men
• Diminishes womens financial resources and
  educational, political, and legal opportunities

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Gold Mining Harms Women

• Mining employs a few women in low-level, clerical
  positions, where they face severe discrimination,
  sexual harassment, and firing for pregnancy
• Women have to walk further to collect water
• Dowry-associated violence, esp. in India
• Utilization of child labor

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Gold Mining Human Rights Abuses

• Grassberg mine (worlds largest, owned by
  U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan)
• On land seized from Amunge and Komoro peoples
• Dumps tons of cyanide-laced waste into local
  rivers each day
• Operators implicated in forced evictions,
  murders, rape, torture, extra-judicial killings,
  and arbitrary detentions
• Abetted by Indonesian military, which it has paid
  millions of dollars

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Gold Mining Terrorism

• Echo Bay Mines Limited purportedly paid off Abu
  Sayef (affiliated with Al Qaeda) in exchange for
  protection of its Philippines-based gold mine

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Gold Markets vs. Morals

• U.S. government has 8,134 tons of gold secured in
  vaults (worth approximately 122 billion)
• Federal Reserve and other major central banks
  have agreed to severely restrict sales from their
  reserves, offering, in effect, a price support to
  gold

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Gold Markets vs. Morals

• Currently 3 times more gold sits in bank vaults,
  in jewelry boxes, and with private investors than
  is identified in underground reserves
• Enough gold to meet current consumer demand for
  17 years
• Subsidies make it cheaper to extract new gold
  than to recycle existing gold

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Gold Markets vs. Morals

• Mining industry maintains strong ties with
  governments to maintain status quo
• 32 million spent on lobbying in 2011 (largest
  recipient Mitt Romney)

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Gold Markets vs. Morals

• Gold mining supported by World Bank and its
  profit-making arm, the International Finance
  Corporation
• Gold industry blocking International Monetary
  Fund- and World Bank-sponsored debt-forgiveness
  package

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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Flowers
• Grow your own
• Potted plant
• Purchase locally- or internationally-produced,
  organically-grown, labor-friendly bouquets

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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Flowers
• Consumer education
• Pressure on retailers
• Boycotts
• Food First Information Action Networks Voluntary
  International Code of Conduct

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Alternatives and Solutions

• Flowers
• Veriflora Certification System
• Organic production with phaseout of pesticides
• Water conservation
• Safe waste management
• Mitigation of previous environmental damage
• Fair labor practices / fair wages / overtime pay
  / right to organize
• Unannounced audits ensure compliance

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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Diamonds
• Consider alternatives to traditional engagement
  ring
• Cubic zirconium
• Synthetic/cultured diamonds
• LifeGems (diamonds created from carbon captured
  during cremation of human and animal remains!)
• No ring

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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Diamonds
• Purchase only verifiable conflict-free diamonds
• cut, color, clarity, and conflict
• Query jewelers, consumer education, boycotts,
  protests, shareholder activism
• Kimberly Process Certification Scheme

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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Gold
• Consumer pressure, boycotts, shareholder
  resolutions
• Consider recycled/vintage gold, eco-friendly
  gold, alternatives to traditional wedding
  ring/class ring
• Develop biological and chemical treatments to
  decrease/destroy cyanide, mercury, and other
  mining contaminants, and alternatives to
  mercury-based smelting

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Minamata Convention

• International agreement among over 140 countries
  (including U.S.) to be signed October, 2013
• Places controls and restrictions on mercury use
• E.g., Medical equipment (thermometers),
  energy-saving light bulbs, mining, cement and
  coal-fired power plants
• Includes education and public health strategies
  to identify and treat victims of mercury toxicity

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Safe Diamonds (?)
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Safe Gold
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Symbols of Love Alternatives and Solutions

• Consider alternative tokens of affection
• Homemade gifts
• Donations to charities
• Eco-jewelry made from recycled materials by
  indigenous peoples
• Profits returned to local communities, providing
  wide-ranging social and economic benefit

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Conclusions

• Cut flowers, diamonds, and gold as symbols of
  love are cultural constructs perpetuated in part
  by the persuasive marketing efforts of
  multinational corporations
• Production involves significant damage to local
  communities and the environment and harms men,
  women and children

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Conclusions

• Production supports human rights abuses, armed
  conflict, and even terrorism
• Symbols of love should not be constant reminders
  of death and destruction
• Consider alternative symbols of love
• Work for social justice and change

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Paper/References

• Donohoe MT. Flowers, diamonds, and gold The
  destructive human rights and environmental
  consequences of symbols of love. Human Rights
  Quarterly 200830164-82. Available at
  http//phsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/symbols
  -of-love-hrq-pdf.pdf

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Contact Information

• martindonohoe_at_phsj.org
• http//www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
• http//www.phsj.org