Experts suspect pest-control chemical caused tourists' deaths

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1640637.php/Experts-suspect-pest-control-chemical-caused-tourists-deaths

Experts suspect pest-control chemical caused tourists' deaths

May 22, 2011, 4:18 GMT

Bangkok - World Health Organization (WHO) experts suspect a pest-control chemical caused the death of a 23-year-old New Zealand woman while holidaying in Thailand this year, reports said Sunday.

A team of experts on Friday examined the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai city, where Sarah Carter and three other foreigners died under mysterious circumstances in January and February.

They concluded that a 'pest-control chemical' was the likely cause of the deaths, the Bangkok Post reported.

Chiang Mai public health director Surasing Visaruthrat said the experts were still trying to identify the substance which he claimed was unlikely to be chlorpyrifos, as suggested by an investigation conducted by New Zealand's TVs's 60 Minutes programme this month.

'We are looking into a toxic substance other than chlorpyrifos,' he told the newspaper.

The WHO team will continue to investigate the case in bid to provide a transparent inquest into the deaths which have drawn much media attention.

Chiang Mai governor Panadda Disakul, who initially described the deaths as a 'coincidence,' said he hoped investigation would be concluded soon for 'the sake of the good image of Chiang Mai and Thailand.'

Carter was one of seven people who died under mysterious circumstances within six weeks in the popular resort city of Chiang Mai, 650 kilometres north of Bangkok. Four of the victims had been staying at the Downtown Inn.

Ron McDowall, a consultant to the United Nations who specializes in hazardous chemicals, told TV3's 60 Minutes that he suspected Carter's death was caused by a bug spray using toxin chlorpyrifos.

'I think she was killed by an overzealous sprayer, who has been acting on the instruction of the hotel owner to deal with bed bugs,' he told the TV programme.

Reporters for the programme, posed as tourists to gain access to the room in which Carter and two friends had stayed. Team took swabs to be tested.

McDowall said the fact that the swabs found traces of chlorpyrifos - a chemical used to kill bed bugs and cockroaches, but banned for indoor use in many countries - three months after her death suggested there would have been a high concentration in February.

Carter's father Richard set up a website called thailandtraveltragedies.com to highlight what he called the official cover-up over his daughter's death on February 6.