(Left) A young farmer drinking from a well used for mixing pesticides. (Right) A young farmer mixing pesticides in a well

Danger on farms; Health dilemma of pesticide use in modern agriculture

Gabriel Ahiabor Dec - 02 - 2015 , 16:16

Togbe Awalashie, a 90-year-old traditional priest and a farmer, has a story to tell, but it was stuck in his throat. On the farm with his grandson, Sammy, his face ashen, his eyes clouded, Awalashie starts talking a few times, only to trail off mid-sentence

He switches into a contemplative mood until he quietly and hopefully tries to change the subject: “Agricultural jobs are the most dangerous in the world. Why aren't we talking about it?" he asked.

Ten years ago, Togbe Awalashie lost his only son, Lumor, a 45-year-old bank manager, as a result of years of contact with pesticides during his childhood days on the farm at Anloga.

In his secondary and university schools days, Lumor helped his father during long vacations on the shallot farm, where they fetched water from shallow wells to irrigate their crops.

Ironically, the wells, which served as their source of drinking water while on the farm, were also those into which pesticides were mixed before fetching the water to irrigate the crops.

Lumor was diagnosed with a bone marrow disease at age 45 as a result of years of contact with the chemicals.

The residual effect of the chemicals had a long-term damaging effect on his organs which eventually led to his death.

This is just one case of the tragedy that has befallen many in farming communities.

Source of human poisoning

Pesticides are used worldwide to improve or protect crops. Despite their enormous benefits, pesticides have a massive potential to threaten environmental safety, as well as human health.

Tracing the sources of human poisoning to the use of pesticides, the Director of Occupation and Environmental Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Edith Clarke said the sources were either occupational or non-occupational, adding that occupational poisoning was usually accidental.

She explained that persons who might be affected included handlers of pesticides, workers applying pesticides on the farm and parks, those who package the pesticides and persons involved in commercial pest-control activities.

According to her, non-sprayers present at the time of spraying, children who fetch water for mixing pesticides or those with their parents could also be affected.

On non-occupational poisoning, she noted that it might arise from the following sources: contamination of farm produce, surface water, fish, game and children drinking from unmarked or poorly labelled chemical containers.

She indicated that poisoning from pesticides might give rise to one or more types of adverse health effects which may be acute, chronic or sub-acute. The acute effect occurs quickly or suddenly, usually following exposure to a large dose of pesticide and includes asthma-like effects, corrosive burns on the skin, skin irritation and flu-like symptoms.

Chronic effects are usually long term, resulting from slow-dose exposure. They may also occur following massive exposure, manifesting months or years of exposure.

These effects, she said, developed slowly over a longer period, cause multi organ effects. These might include nerve damage causing numbness of extremities such as paralysis and deformities of limbs, disorders of central nervous system such as memory loss and confusion.

Control measures

The pesticides control and management Act, Act 528, 1996, empowers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce regulatory programmes in collaboration with other institutions, notably the Ministry of Food and Agriculture; the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority; Ministry of Health (MoH), among others, to deal with importation and use of pesticides in the country.

The Executive Director of EPA, Mr Daniel Amlalo, said there were safety instructions on applying pesticides and farmers had to be trained to apply them.

He said after applying chemicals or preservatives to crops and foodstuffs, one must wait until the effect wanes before eating the food. He advised that empty containers of the chemicals must be disposed of in a very safe way and farmers must stop using empty chemical containers to collect water for drinking.

According to him, once the water got into the container, it became contaminated.

Mr Amlalo said the EPA had a centre that regulated the importation of chemicals and ensured that only those who were qualified and trained used it.

He said custom officials were trained to insist on EPA permits before the chemicals were allowed into the country.

Currently, more than 300 pesticide products had been registered for use in the country and about 800 applicants were licensed to deal in various categories of pesticides nationwide.

The silence of major distributors of pesticides on the use of Plant Protection Equipment (PPE) during chemical application is worrying and must be addressed.

Distributors do not promote the use of PPE such as waterproof overalls, anti-poisonous nose masks and goggles by farmers.They rather freely give out T’ shirts and calendars.

A former Director of Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Directorate of MoFAD, Dr Vesper Suglo, said pesticides management must start from the manufacturers through distributors to users.

He observed that the end users did not have the necessary appreciation of the hazard they go through.

He said regulators and agriculture extension officers needed to carry out sensitisation and awareness forum for end users.

“It is, therefore, necessary for farmers to have knowledge on how to use pesticides and other agrochemicals effectively, responsibly and economically,” Dr Suglo advised.

Conclusion

While pesticides are very useful in modern agriculture, there is truly a dilemma posed by their massive potential for causing ill health in humans.

They are indeed a friend, as well as a foe to man.

It is very sad to see healthy plants while those taking care of these plants look unhealthy because of misuse of agrochemicals.