An Iberia Parish woman said she was sprayed with a “mouthful” of commercial insecticide called Orthene by a helicopter near a cane field last week and developed symptoms including a swollen throat and tongue the next day.

She seemed to be doing better this week, but said she is seeing a doctor Thursday about possible harmful effects of current or prolonged exposure.

The spraying onto people and their properties “is not a common occurrence,” a state Department of Agriculture official, Richard Arceneaux, said Tuesday, and he said the issue is being investigated.

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“I came running in the house — freaked out, horrified,” Loraine Gay of Estes Road said Tuesday, a few minutes after another Department of Agriculture official had visited her home to ask her to sign a “health-related incident report.” She did.

“What if my little boy had been playing outside? I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and I could still taste it,” Gay said of Thursday’s incident.

She said she had been relaxing on her wooden swing at her home of six years near Plantation Village when droplets fell from the sky. A helicopter, whirring overhead, was attempting to spray the cane field next to her home.

“I had never seen them spraying over my house,” Gay said.

“I was sitting on my swing, my safe place. I turned around to look and I got a mouthful, and there was a helicopter,” Gay said. “I thought it was raining. I got a mouthful of it and everything. I filed a complaint with the Department of Agriculture.”

She was told the chemical was Orthene. A check of the Orthene label shows a “harmful if swallowed” warning and also warns that Orthene causes eye irritation. It asks that people “avoid contact with eyes, skin and clothing. Avoid breathing dust or spray mist. Do not allow children or pets to come into contact with treated areas until sprays have dried. Do not apply this product in a way that will contact workers or other persons.”

The product, which upon application has a noticeable stench, contains “acephate,” an organophosphate, cholinesterase inhibitor.

Acephate is considered a fetotoxin, meaning it can poison the fetus, and there is some evidence of hormonal effects. As for organ toxicity, exposure effects in humans can include cardiac responses, central nervous system impairment, eye problems (dark or blurred vision or cataracts), gastrointestinal problems (abdominal cramps, heartburn), respiratory effects including chest tightness and death due to respiratory failure.

Orthene Turf, Tree & Ornamental Spray is commonly used to control rose pests and also can also be used as an outside-perimeter spray for nuisance pests such as wasps, ants, cockroaches, crickets, earwigs and as a turf spray for caterpillars, fleas and others.

Orthene’s toxicity to people and pets is “relatively low,” and it “poses little hazard to birds, fish and wildlife when applied at labeled rates, although it is highly toxic to bees directly exposed to the spray.”

Gay said she hoped the issue was a one-time occurrence, and she is just waiting to see what a doctor visit shows this week.

“I’m not a suing person,” she said. “They’re probably afraid of litigation. I want to know if being doused with it is harmful. And if my swing is getting doused, is my skin absorbing this? I’m a recluse by nature. I was never an activist, always quiet, minded my business, paid my taxes. But this is a rude awakening.”

She will talk to the farmer, the helicopter pilot and others within the state chain, she said, and hopes their answers allay her fears. Gay said she also wants others to watch out for the helicopters.

After the incident, she spoke last week to Michael Chedester, an inspector at the Department of Agriculture. He was out in the field Tuesday, but Arceneaux said the department “took swab samples (of the home) and all that was sent to the lab.”

“I know they’re checking with the aerial applicator (helicopter company),” Arceneaux said. “Everything is being done accordingly.”

The helicopter was not a state helicopter, but a private firm hired by a farmer.

“I can’t blame the farmer,” Gay said. “He wasn’t flying the helicopter. I was trusting these people. I also know they’re not supposed to be spraying me.”