The World Health
Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
have unveiled new guidelines aimed at reducing the damage done by pesticides
that pose especially high toxic risks to human health and the environment, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Sources from both organization, informed NaijaAgroNet that products with high acute toxicity account for high numbers of
immediate poisoning cases, particularly in developing countries, while products
with chronic toxicity effects may cause cancer or developmental disorders among
growing children.
NaijaAgroNet reports that in industrialized
countries, such so-called "highly hazardous pesticides" may be no
longer permitted or subject to strict use limitations, yet they often remain
widely available in developing countries.
“Even hazardous products are still permitted
in industrialised countries can cause severe problems in the developing world,
where use circumstances can be very different,” FAO source said.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that small-scale farmers
in developing countries in particular often do not have, or use, the necessary
protective gear and mostly use back-pack sprayers that pose high risk of
exposure.
Therefore, both WHO and FAO pointed out that restriction
on the use of such highly hazardous products often prove hard to enforce,
leading to widespread use by untrained persons, warning that high numbers of
poisoning cases, contaminated food and environmental damage could be the
result.
