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Volume 7, Issue 5 (Suppl)
J Environ Anal Toxicol, an open access journal
ISSN: 2161-0525
Environmental Toxicology 2017
October 19-20, 2017
October 19-20, 2017 | Atlanta, USA
12
th
International Conference on
Environmental Toxicology and Ecological Risk Assessment
Agricultural Pesticide Use in Developing Countries: Bane or Blessing?
T
he need to boost agricultural productivity has prompted developing countries to aggressively pursue through subsidies, tax
discounts, and exemption from import tax, the use of agriculture inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides are
designed as “poisons” to destroy pests but the capacity to “destroy” often extends to adverse human health and environmental
effects. Sources of pesticide poisoning include occupational, whereby vendors repackage pesticides in small sachets and sell
in open markets. Also, pesticide poisoning may be accidental through drifts from sprayed fields, early reentry to sprayed
fields, and unknowingly eating animals or crops that contain pesticide residue. Documentation include the hospitalization
of a cocoa farmer’s family after eating vegetable undergrowth of coca trees sprayed with lindane, and the reported cases of
vomiting due to the consumption of noodles that contains residues of carbofuran in Nigeria. Some of the factors that have
been identified as contributors to pesticide poisoning in developing countries include; lack of the use of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) such as gloves, nose and face masks, overalls and shoes, or the use of ineffective items such as covering
the face with paper masks, the use of leaking equipment or domestic utensils for mixing pesticides, and the use of empty
pesticide containers to store water for humans and domestic animals. Others include the extensive lack of knowledge about
the adverse effects of pesticides, and lack of regulations regarding the importation, labelling, use and disposal of pesticides, and
the lack of enforcement of any existing regulations. Regarding the latter, pesticides that have banned or placed on restricted
use in industrialized countries due to the pesticides’ toxicities are often imported into developing countries. Recommendations
include establishing public education programs emphasizing the adverse impacts of these pesticides, training and certification
of pesticide applicators, and the provision of PPE free or at subsidized rates. The contention in the literature that PPE are
“completely unrealistic for the hot tropical climate” especially of sub-Sahara Africa is unfounded and misleading. Sub-Sahara
Africa is not monolithic both as a region or as individual countries. The temperature ranges within the region are applicable
to many industrialized countries that use PPE. Finally, it is necessary to establish and implement appropriate policies for
importation, labelling, use and disposal of pesticides.
Biography
Olurominiyi O Ibitayo is working as a Professor in Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas. He received his PhD
in Public Administration at Arizona State University. His research interests are in the areas of environmental and occupational risk assessment/analysis, environmental
justice, neighborhood-level research and emergency management. His publications have appeared in reputable journals such as
Risk Analysis, Journal of Hazardous
Materials, Journal of Emergency Management and HortScience
.
ibitayo_oo@tsu.eduOlurominiyi O Ibitayo
Texas Southern University, USA
Olurominiyi O Ibitayo, J Environ Anal Toxicol 2017, 7:5 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525-C1-008