High quantities of toxic chemical waste from unused or obsolete pesticides are posing a continuing and worsening threat to people and the environment in several parts of the world, including the Middle East, FAO has indicated.
In the Middle East and Latin America together some 10,000 tonnes have been declared and countries are asking FAO increasingly for help.
"Affected countries are calling - ever more frequently and with greater urgency - for assistance to remove their obsolete pesticide stocks and prevent the further accumulation of toxic waste," said Mark Davis, head of FAO's programme on the Prevention and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides on the occasion of an expert consultation held in Rome.
The worst affected are frequently poor rural communities that may not even be aware of the toxic nature of the chemicals they are daily exposed to.
The waste sites contain some of the most dangerous insecticides like the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor and organophosphates. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
