1987 - DuPont introduces Benlate 50 DF

1989 - Limited recall of DF formula.

1990 - DuPont cancels post-harvest use of Benlate on fruit crops.

March 1991 - Second recall. DuPont removes all DF from the market.

September 1991 - DuPont cancels other formulations of Benlate for use on ornamental and container-grown plants, in greenhouses, or as a soil drench on any plants.

November 1991 - Agriculture department begins to receive health complaints.

March 1992 - Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford directs HRS to investigate health claims.

June 1992 - Crawford appoints two scientific project teams to investigate Benlate's effects on crops and health.

August 1992 - State officials complete 75 interviews with sick growers September 1992 - State enlists federal assistance, citing increasing evidence of health problems.

October 1992 - 30 farmworkers march on Tallahassee to urge officials to ban all forms of Benlate until more is known about health effects.

November 1992 - Dupont stops paying all crop damage claims. Produces new research it says proves that Benlate was not to blame.

February 1993 - HRS seeks $60,000 from Legislature to perform medical tests on 40 people.

April 1993 - Funding for medical studies left out of state budget.

April 1994 - State files administrative complaint against Dupont for selling an adulterated

and misbranded pesticide.

August 1994 - Study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health concludes that Benlate's active ingredient is absorbed through skin; recommends more study.

May 1995 - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences begins review of Benlate in combination with two key contaminants.

Sept. 1995 - Florida administrative law judge rules in favor of Dupont on state adulteration complaint, faulting agriculture department's laboratory methods.

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