Farmers told not to use weed killers that may cause cancer

Gilbert Luchina (right), a coffee quality officer at Coffee Management Services Mills in Eldoret speaks to coffee farmers from western Kenya during their annual meeting on May 24, 2019. During the meeting, concerns were raised over use of weed killers suspected to cause cancer. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Countries like America have warned against importation of crops on which such banned herbicides have been used to control weeds.
  • Some agronomists confirmed that some of the herbicides including 2,4-D and Roundup are harmful to human health.
  • But many farmers in the North Rift region maintain that Roundup is a safe weed killer.

Kenyan agronomists and coffee marketing agents have raised the red flag over the use of weed killers suspected to cause cancer.

The two parties say 2,4-D and Monsanto’s Roundup, which are used to eliminate weeds in coffee, tea and sugarcane among other crops, are harmful to human health.

“The country risks losing international markets for some of its cash crops due to continued use of such herbicides like 2,4-D and Roundup believed to cause life threatening diseases like cancer,” cautioned Mr Kamau Kuria, the managing director of Coffee Management Services Mills.

Countries such as the US, Germany, Japan and Switzerland, he said, have warned against importation of crops in which such banned herbicides have been used to control weeds.

APPROVED HERBICIDES

“It is vital for farmers to use herbicides approved by the Pest Control Products Board and, where necessary, take soil samples to the Kenya Plant and health Inspectorate services to determine whether it has been contaminated with the herbicides,” said Mr Kuria.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the widely used 2,4-D – a key ingredient in a new herbicide developed by the Dow company – “possibly” causes cancer in humans.

The classification of the weed killer, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, was made by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The IARC said it reviewed the latest scientific literature and decided to classify 2,4-D as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, a step below the more definitive “probably carcinogenic” category but two steps above the “probably not carcinogenic” category.

IARC’s findings on 2,4-D have been awaited by environmental and consumer groups that are lobbying US regulators to tightly restrict the use of 2,4-D.

CLASSIFICATION

IARC said it decided on the “possibly” classification because there was “inadequate evidence in humans and limited evidence in experimental animals” of ties between 2,4-D and cancer.

It said that epidemiological studies provided “strong evidence that 2,4-D induces oxidative stress … and moderate evidence that 2,4-D causes immunosuppression”.

Mr Kuria, who made his remarks during field day for coffee farmers at CMS Mills in Eldoret, asked Kenyan farmers to avoid the chemical.

“Some of these herbicides remain in the soil for long periods and require a lot of rainfall to be washed away or filter, causing some health risks,” he said.

A team from Japan Coffee Association, he said, visited Kenya recently on a fact-finding mission to ascertain if farmers are still using banned herbicides.

HARMFUL

Some agronomists confirmed to the Nation that some of the herbicides, including 2,4-D and Roundup, are harmful to human health and farmers should exercise extra caution when handling them.

“Farmers need to be extra cautious when handling the chemicals and if possible stop using them altogether,” said David Koskei, an agronomist based in Eldoret.

But many farmers in the North Rift region maintain that Roundup is a safe weed killer despite a ruling by a US court that it causes skin or blood cancer.

They argue that the herbicide is effective for weed control and they have never experienced any health effects in the many years they have been applying it before planting their crops.

“I have no idea that the herbicide is hazardous to human health. A small quantity of the chemical is enough to wipe out weeds making it more cost effective as compared to other chemicals,” said James Too from Chepkumia, Nandi County.

NO HEALTH EFFECTS

He uses the chemical to kill weeds in his tea and maize plantation and applies the herbicide once a month on the crops.

Like other farmers in the region, he has never heard about the US court ruling.

The sentiments were shared by agronomist George Otieno of Agri-Tech who argues that the herbicide has no health effects so long as one observes the specified instructions when using it.

“The herbicide has been in the market for decades and I have never heard of anyone who has developed respiratory, skin or any other health problem as a result of the use of this chemical,” said Mr Otieno.

But he admits that some livestock have died after feeding on silage or grass sprayed with Roundup.

“I have witnessed situations where some farmers have lost their livestock after feeding on grass contaminated with Roundup. But that is as a result of negligence and farmers need to protect areas sprayed with the chemical,” said Mr Otieno.