Experts have warned that the widespread use of hazardous pesticides and agrochemicals by farmers and traders in Nigeria is posing serious risks to human health and the environment. Chemicals such as Atrazine, Butachlor, Dichlorovos, Carbendazim, Cypermethrin, Dimethoate, Diuron, Endosulfan, Glyphosate, and Imidacloprid, among others, remain in circulation despite being banned in other countries. Data from the Alliance for Action on Pesticides in Nigeria (AAPN) show that 17 of these highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) are still in use, even though the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has banned six of them.
Experts say prolonged exposure and accumulation of these pesticides in the human body can lead to severe health issues, including endocrine and nervous system disruption, cancer, and developmental and neurological damage. Joseph Akinneye, a professor of Biology at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, said, “When pesticides are used beyond the maximum limits on food products, it becomes dangerous to human health. Farmers and traders in the country often use these chemicals at high levels, and the accumulation of them in the body causes cancer, difficulty in breathing, and hormonal imbalance among other illnesses.”