ABUJA – The Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) has advised against the use of herbicides to kill grass or weeds, saying that such practice was dangerous to human health.
Mr. Augustine Ebisike, the Registrar of the council, was quoted as saying this in a statement signed by Mr Kehinde Openibo, the Head (Press and Public Communications) of the council, in Abuja.
Ebisike observed that the use herbicides to kill green grass stifles their ability to absorb oxygen, thereby making the process of photosynthesis impossible.
He stressed that chemicals must be used only by trained professionals, to avoid dangerous health implications on the population.
The registrar decried the current situation whereby anybody could go to the market to sell or buy chemicals, stressing that the sale and distribution of chemicals such as herbicides should be controlled.
He blamed the incidents of acid bath on inadequate control of the use of chemicals.
He, however, acknowledged NAFDAC’s role in the control of some chemicals, while also observing that the Federal Ministry of Environment had formulated a chemicals management policy.
The policy, he said, was designed to ensure the regulation of chemicals under international conventions of which Nigeria is a signatory to.
According to him, there are many illnesses such as cancer, which is associated with improper use of chemicals.
Ebisike also kicked against the disposal of both bio-degradable non-biodegradable waste such as crashed computer, cell phone battery, among others in the same dump site.
He explained that such practice was dangerous as plants on such soil might absorb chemicals from the waste items and the health of anyone who consumed food from such soil was at risk.
The registrar further advised Nigerians to use protective gears while handling chemicals, stressing that “a chemical that can kill weeds can actually kill human beings’’. (NAN)
