CC BY
20
УДК 631. 348.45: 632.954 (669)
G. M. BELLO Г. М. БЕЛЛО
THE INFLUENCE OF PESTICIDES PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
ON THE HEALTH ON FADAMA ONION FARMERS IN WURNO LGA, SOKOTO-NIGERIA
ВЛИЯНИЕ СРЕДСТВ ЛИЧНОЙ ЗАЩИТЫ НА ЗДОРОВЬЕ ФЕРМЕРОВ, ВЫРАЩИВАЮЩИХ ЛУК НА ФАДАМЕ В ВУРНО ЛГА (СОКОТО, НИГЕРИЯ),
ПРИ ПРИМЕНЕНИИ ПЕСТИЦИДОВ
(Поступила в редакцию 10.04.14)
This study investigated the use of personal protection В статье исследуется использование средств личной
equipment (PPE) and the practice of safety in the application of защиты и меры безопасности при работе с сельскохозяй-pesticides in agriculture. Results revealed that protective ственными пестицидами. Результаты исследования пока-equipment was worn by few farmers: overalls - 38.0 %; gloves зали, что немногие фермеры использовали защитное обору- 37 %; nose/mouth mask - 41 %; eye goggles - 49 % and дование: комбинезон - 38,0 %; перчатки - 37 %; респира-boots-61 %. As a result of lack ofPPE or failure to use it as well тор - 41 %; защитные очки - 49 % и сапоги - 61 %. Недос-as deficiencies in safety training among the farmers led to some таток средств личной защиты, нежелание пользоваться ill-health related problems ranging from headaches, tiredness, ими и пренебрежение мерами безопасности во время рабо-vomiting and nausea to skin problems such as skin burn and ты с пестицидами привело к таким заболеваниям и недо-itching after using these pesticides. моганиям у фермеров, как головная боль, усталость, тош-
нота и головокружение, ожоги кожи и чесотка.
Introduction
Pesticides are used extensively in crop protection throughout the world constitute potential occupational hazards for farmers and farm workers [11, 8] in the developing countries [28, 15, 4] , who are the prime targets for pesticides toxicity. Pesticides are playing a pivotal role in meeting the food, vegetables, fruits and tobacco demand of escalating population and control of vector-borne diseases. However, most of the applied pesticides get dispersed in the environment and affects the health of un-protected agricultural and industrial workers. According to [18] the potential for chronic exposure has not been well characterized. The three major routes of entry for pesticides include contamination of the skin, lungs and the gut. The skin of a human adult has a superficial surface area of approximately 1.73 m2, but it is undoubtedly the major focus of accidental acute exposure. Similarly the respiratory tract provides a very efficient surface for the absorption of substances, whether they are in the form of vapors, particles or droplets. Although pesticides furnish some benefits for crop, they entail a number of risks and problems. The public health issue of pesticide exposure is further complicated by the presence of impurities in so-called, inert-ingredients such as solvents, wetting agents and emulsifiers. These chemicals are suspected of producing adverse health effects based on their structural similarity to proven toxicants. The unregulated and excessive use of pesticides has become a major bottleneck in our fight against insect pests. The morbidity among farmers in most part of the world has also been under-reported, and pesticides illness in developing countries has not been recognized as a high priority by public health workers because of lack of concrete data on the actual as opposed to estimated number of cases.
Lack of PPE or failure to use it [26], deficiencies in safety training among farmers and as well as the careless application of pesticides with faulty (leaking, cracked, deteriorated rubber seals, washers etc.) sprayers couple with weak or total absence of occupational health legislation [18] in developing countries [15] have been identified as some of the deficiencies in agricultural hygiene. A major factor of pesticide contamination or poisoning in developing countries is the unsafe use or misuse of pesticides. Elements of unsafe use of pesticides that have been identified by past research include erroneous beliefs of farmers about pesticide toxici-ty, lack of attention to safety precautions, environmental hazards, and information about first aid and antidotes given by the label, the use of faulty spraying equipment or lack of proper maintenance of spraying equipment, and lack of the use of protective gear and appropriate clothing during handling of pesticides [12, 6, 5, 1, 3, 24, 27]. Although some farmers may be aware of the need for PPE when applying pesticides, it is thought that they usually do not use such measures either because of discomfort of weather conditions [26] or the PPE is not available.
In some developing countries like Nigeria, farmers are uneducated, and for this reason, they do not (or cannot) read the labels on pesticides containers [22, 12, 2] and, thus do not follow instructions in the proper handling of these pesticides [20]. However, the language on the labels is mostly English, which most of the farmers cannot read; again, the lack of safety training by agricultural extension officers also inhibits the use of the pictograms on the labels, and of course, the non-availability of PPE and suitable gadgets for the preparation of pesticides for spraying on site makes them improvise with what is available (usually inappropriate).
Farmers are also not trained formally in the handling of pesticides and they learn farm work practices and techniques from colleagues, family members or friends. Any ill-health from pesticide exposure that they may experience is not ascribed by them to the pesticide exposure, for many do not believe that pesticides could not harm them.
The use of protective clothing, gloves, and hand washing are known to reduce pesticide exposure to workers. For example, studies of pesticide mixers, loaders, and applicators (MLAs) demonstrate the effectiveness of protective clothing in reducing worker dermal loading by 50-95 % [14]. Gloves have also been found to reduce pesticide dermal loading among MLAs [25, 23, 17]. A few studies of field farm workers have also confirmed that protective clothing [21, 16] and glove use [9] can reduce the amount of pesticides reaching farm workers' skin.
Table 1. Classification of some recommended pesticides used by the farmers surveyed
Product trade name Brand or common name Application rate Estimate per on sprayer load Condition of use Remarks
Lamdacyhalothrine 25 EC (Insecticide). Karate 2.5 EC, Karto 2.5 EC, Kombat 2.5E C, Lamcot 2.5 EC, etc. 0.4-0.8 liter/ha 35-70 ml in 15-liter sprayer or 100 ml in 20-liter sprayer Contact and ingestion. Apply at early infestation and against early stages of insects' life cycle. Controls leaf, fruit and soil-dwelling insects and migratory insect pests in cow-pea, cotton, groundnut, vegetables, maize, rice, and fruit trees
Cypermertin plus dimethoate (Insecticide) Best action, Cyperdiforce, Superplus, Sherpaplus, Balathoate plus, Uppercott, etc. 1 liter/ha 75 ml in 15-liter sprayer or 100 ml in 20-liter sprayer Contact and systemic action. Apply as above. Controls plant sucking insects in cotton, cowpea, groundnut, and cereals
Objective of the study
The objective of the study is:
1. To identify the behavior of onion farmers with regards to agricultural use of pesticides in Lugu farmland of Wurno Irrigation Project in LGA of Sokoto State.
2. To determine the availability and usage of PPE during pesticides application.
3. To determine the effect between the use and non-use of various PPE.
Materials and method
Wurno Irrigation Project is located on latitude 13o 20'N and longitude 4o 55'E, within the Sudan savanna ecological zone. The climate consists of a long dry season (October to May) and a short wet season (June to September) [10]. The mean annual rainfall in the area is about 500 mm, poor in distribution, scanty in quantity and erratic in behaviour with its peak in August [10]. The temperature ranges from a minimum of 17oC recorded in December/January to 40oC in April/May. The project comprises of a storage reservoir with design capacity of 19,501,200 m3 supplied from Goronyo dam. The reservoir is linked to two main canals, namely; Lugu main canal that passes through Lugu village (the site of this study) and Tuttudawa main canal that passes through Tuttudawa village, a main drain and a number of secondary canals. Simple random sampling technique was adopted in collecting data. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources. Primary source was by survey using structured questionnaire administered on 80 respondents (farmers that used pesticides) to collect information on the use of PPE and safety measures during application of pesticides on the farms. The selection was randomly from the council wards. Secondary data were collected from books, journals, proceedings and documents. Data collected were analyzed through descriptive statistics.
Results
Protective protection equipment was found to be used b few farmers as follows: overalls - 36.0 %; gloves - 35 %; nose/mouth mask - 39 %; eye goggles - 55 % and boots - 79 % (fig.)
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Fig. Distribution of farmers according to PPE usage, %
6i
49
37 41
mummm
Overalls Gloves Nose/mouth mask Eye goggles Boots
The results in the figure above revealed that almost half of the farmers in average are not using pesticide protection equipment (PPE) and this attributed to low level of education, insufficient or non-availability of PPE as well as lack of safety training by agricultural extension officers on methods of protection during mixing and spraying of pesticides, use of protective devices, washing and taking a bath after application, clothing (used during spraying, changing and separating clothing following spraying), eating and drinking during pesticide application, cleaning nozzle, re-entry period in the farm after applying pesticides, disposal of pesticide container.
Table 2. Distribution of respondents according to health hazards associated with the use of pesticides
Hazard Frequency Percentage, %
Headache 37 30.8
Vomiting 30 30.1
Skin irritation 74 61.7
Dizziness 62 51.7
Respiratory problems 37 30.8
According farmers, the delayed effects of pesticide are illnesses or injuries that do not appear immediately (within 24 hours) after exposure to a pesticide. Adverse effects may be delayed for weeks, months or even years after the first exposure to a pesticide. Depending upon the toxicity of the compound, dosage and exposure time, the adverse effects of pesticides poisoning as seen in table 2 above ranges from headaches (30.7 %), vomiting (30.1 %), skin irritation (73.3 %), dizziness (51.3 %), respiratory problems (30.6 %) and other ill-health disorders. This is consistent with [13] studies. Majority of them didn't receive school education. School education was related to higher levels of knowledge and behaviors. Farmers who received school education had more knowledge about the negative effects of pesticides on health and routes of contamination with pesticides. They also had low scores on reading labels of pesticides containers and not taking precautions when coming in contact with pesticides.
Conclusion
The advent of pesticides has led to increase in crop yield and reduce drudgery among farmers; little time is now taken to clear herbs especially before farming as well as in pest control. All the health problems are associated with the frequency of pesticides spraying though some farmers read instruction label before its application, they do not observe other instructions like wearing of mask etc. Similarly, low level of education, insufficient or non-availability of PPE as well as lack of safety training by agricultural extension officers attributed to many ill-health problems to the farmers.
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