A Professor of Agricultural Extension and Development Communication in the University of Ibadan, Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, has called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to deregister and ban the use of Paraquat, the chemicals widely used by farmers as herbicide for weed and grass control in Nigeria.
Addressing Commissioners of Agriculture at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Professor Kuta Yahaya said paraquat with different trade names has adverse effect on the health of farmers and other consumers of the farm produce.
“Studies have shown that it is a highly poisonous chemical substance that has been linked to numerous incidents that affect the health of end users who are mostly farmers,” he explained.
Professor Yahaya pointed out that such herbicides have long term effects that ranged from “damage to vital human organs such as lung (scarring), kidney and heart failure, and esophageal strictures (scarring of the swallowing tube that makes it difficult for a person to swallow). There is an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease later in life. People with large ingestions of Paraquat are not likely to survive”.
The don gave the immediate health hazards of the chemical as: acute kidney failure, confusion, coma, fast heart rate, injury to the heart, heart failure, liver failure, lung scarring (evolves more quickly than when small to medium amounts have been ingested), muscle weakness, seizures, pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), respiratory (breathing) failure, possibly leading to death.
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Other effects are pain and swelling of the mouth and throat, which may lead to gastrointestinal (digestive tract) symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea (which may become bloody), Severe gastrointestinal symptoms may result in dehydration (not enough fluids in the body), electrolyte abnormalities (not enough sodium and potassium in the body), and low blood pressure.
He said unless authorities take action against the use of paraquat in Nigeria, the life of Nigerian farmers is in serious danger, especially those living in rural areas with little or no knowledge of the hazards involved in the use of such herbicides.
He said most farmers lack knowledge on the proper application of those herbicides thereby endangering their own lives and end consumers of the farm produce.
He emphasised the need to regulate the sale of herbicides in Nigeria as a measure to curtail the arbitrary usage.
Professor Yahaya revealed that many European countries and America and some African countries including Zambia have de-registered and banned the use of Paraquat due to its health implications
The don called on marketers and producers to key into the campaign agains the use of paraquat by guiding Nigerian farmers in the use of safer alternatives.
