Health and Environmental Impact of Pesticide Application In-and-Around Cocoa Storage Facilities in Ghana

Abstract

Article history: Received 21 March 2019 Accepted 18 April 2019 Available online 06 May 2019 Direct and indirect contamination of humans and animals and the environment by pesticides discharged into the environment is a serious health risk resulting in chronic toxicity. The health and environmental impact of pesticide application in and around some cocoa storage facilities was studied by eliciting information from workers of COCOBOD, who work regularly in the storage facilities, and other people who live around the storage facilities, using questionnaires. Additionally, wall paint and soil samples were taken from the storage environment and the level of contamination determined. The results of the study showed that majority of the people who work in the cocoa storage environment have formal education up to secondary and tertiary levels, but most of the pesticide applicators ignore the usage of full complement of PPE, especially full-face mask. The pesticide applicators (QCC disinfestation staff) listed headache, sneezing, sweating, numbness of fingers, tiredness and runny nose after application of pesticide, as some of the toxicity symptoms noticed after application of the pesticides. Soil around QCC treatment facility and the wall paint of the facility were found to be contaminated with insecticides far above their MRLs in cocoa. It is instructive to indicate that Cypermethrin that was last used in the cocoa storage environment in 2015, three years before the test, was also detected in the soil and wall paint.