Farmers in Thach My Loi Ward, HCM City, fear they are being poisoned by pollution after the skin on their toes turned black while working barefoot in their paddy fields.
Thanh's toes turn black
Vo Van Thanh, a local farmer in HCM City said he had worked the fields for more than 30 years but early this year he found the skin on his toes had "turned black as ink; they itch and no amount of scrubbing will clean them."
Thanh said it was a problem only in some of the fields, where the water was a dark colour and gave off an unpleasant smell.
Le Van Dung, another farmer, said there was a lot of algae in the water in his paddies. Chemicals had no effect. The farmers suspect the water may have been contaminated by nearby factories and recent road work.
"Before they started the road construction that connects to Phu My Bridge, the water was fine," Thanh said.
Vo Van Thanh clears weeds in paddies
Dung said the water came from the Saigon River, which itself may be polluted.
"If there is no way to fix this, we may have to abandon these fields," he said.
Huynh Tan Tien, the head of the HCM City Centre for Labour Health and Environment Protection, said stained toes indicated the water may be contaminated but tests would be necessary to determine what contaminants were present.
Nguyen Tri Dung, the director of the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said an investigation was underway.
