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Hello, I'm Grace Livingstone. On today's business daily, thousands of men say they've been made sterile by a pesticide and have been fighting a decades-long battle for justice.

US companies used a pesticide called DBCP on banana plantations in Latin America in the late 1970s,

even though the United States restricted and then banned its use on mainland USA because of the health risks.

We ask why, even today, pesticides that are outlawed in one country can still be exported and used abroad. But I start my investigation in Panama in the home of

Isabel Koba Mohica. He lives on a tiny plot of land in the province of Chiriki,

where he keeps chickens and grows plantains and mangoes.

When Mr. Cobra was 16 years old, he got a job working on a banana plantation.

I used to cut the fruit, carry the bananas, dig water channels with a spade, pack the bananas

and clean the plantation.

Once he had a job, he began to think about starting a family with his girlfriend.

But despite trying for a baby, she did not fall pregnant.

Eventually the couple split up and he met another woman. But once again, she did not fall pregnant. Eventually the couple split up and he met another

woman, but once again she did not conceive. After three years, he sought medical advice.

I went to the doctor and he did a sperm test. He told me that I couldn't have children. I couldn't

believe it. I went crazy. I didn't think it was

worth going on living. What was the point of living if you weren't going to have a family?

I felt sadness and loss.

The plantation was run by a subsidiary of United Fruit, which is now called Chiquita Brands International.

The humid tropical climate was a breeding ground for insects, fungi and other pests,

and the company used several pesticides.

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