Cancer causing chemical banned as vegetable pesticide

Kenyans have been consuming a chemical for the last 20 years which might have sparked cancer in their bodies.

The chemical known as dimethoate, reported to be in about 25 pesticides, is mainly used in keeping off pests in vegetables and fruits.

The European Union (EU) banned it in the year 2009 but Kenya is banning now.

Dimethoate is widely used to kill insects on contact by disabling cholinesterase - an enzyme essential for their central nervous system. It was patented and introduced in the 1950s in America.

Farmers prefer it because pests are resistant to the others.

A 100ml of pesticide containing dimethoate retails at Sh135 while one without costs Sh190.

Addressing the press at Kilimo House, Nairobi, Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Wilson Songa said pesticides with the chemical should be used in crops which take a longer period to mature.

He said the country’s name is at stake if pesticides with the chemical will continue to be used.

“It causes cancer if used for a long time. The most effective solution is to implement a total ban on all use of dimethoate pesticides on vegetables both for domestic and export markets,” Dr Songa said.

Dr Songa said the government and other stake holders like Pests Control Products Board, Agro-Chemicals Association of Kenya (AAK), Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK) and USAID’s Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Project, embarked on a sensitisation campaign last week to stop the use of pesticides which contain the chemical.

Horticulture Crop Development Authority is also in the campaign.

He said Kenya could lose Sh20 billion in exports if small scale farmers do not stop using dimethoate.

PSPB managing director Gladys Maina said the chemical could be used on crops like cotton.

An agricultural expert, Dr Juma Mukhwana, accused PSPB, a regulatory body, of sleeping on its job.