and about exposure to x-rays, pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Such short-term
 prudence will certainly protect the unborn child from many kinds of permanent
 damage, including the devastating neurological effects of alcohol. But protecting
 the next generation from hormone disruption will require a much longer vigilance-
 over years and decades-because the dose reaching the womb depends not only on
 what the mother takes in during pregnancy but also on the persistent contaminants
 accumulated in body fat throughout her lifetime. ... [W]omen transfer this chemical
 store built up over decades to their children during gestation and during breast-
 feeding (Colburn 1997).

 Given scientific evidence for the cumulative effect of pesticide exposure on human

health in general and female health in particular, it is unrealistic to think that it is safe for

a woman to work at least eight hours per day manipulating flowers on which up to fifty

times the amount of pesticides allowed on foods have been applied (Holt 2000). It is

reasonable to think that the future of these women, even after they are no longer

employed in the flower industry, will be characterized by long term vulnerability.5

 According to Palan and Palan (1999), women are not allowed to work for more

than an average of 1.22 years on a flower plantation because their employers believe that

they "may become pregnant (considering their highly fertile age), resulting in the

obligation of granting 90 days' leave after birth and two hours per day during nine months

for nursing." According to national regulations, the company covers only 25% of the 90-

day leave cost and the state social security system pays for the remainder.

 In general, young women give the best of themselves in terms of physical strength,

optimism, work commitment and creativity, elements vitally important for the optimal

performance of a flower plantation, but in turn they do not receive anything beyond a

minimal income for a limited period of time. Moreover, as several case studies indicate,

once flower workers are dismissed, depending on their age, the opportunities for another


5 Dr. Carlos Donoso, from a Centro Medico in Latacunga, explained me that since flower plantations had
been installed in the area, there was an increasing number of respiratory and toxicity illness.