Lucía Benavides, Peter Clausing, Giovanna C. Segura López and Sabrina Spitznagel
Working Paper No. 05 | June 2021.
Berlin, June 2021.
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This document summarizes information publicly available (as of February 2021) about past and current human rights and environmental problems linked to the operations of the Bayer corporation in Mexico. The most significant case is that of Cromatos de México, a former Bayer subsidiary that operated from 1958 to 1978. It was closed after protests because of severe health problems, including deaths, due to environmental contamination with hexavalent chromium. It seems that the health damages were never compensated, and the case represents a bold example of “risk export” from rich to poor countries. Another example is the marketing of the pesticide carbendazim in Mexico, although it is banned in the European Union because of serious health hazards.
The examples from Mexico are put into context with similar
situations in other countries of the Global South, specifically Brazil
and India.