Africa
POLLUTION
Toxic Time Bomb
Parts of Africa face environmental and human-health hazards because of tons of pesticides that threaten anyone living near them, Paul Redfern reports in the independent East African of Nairobi. According to a study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), unused, out-dated -- but still significantly toxic --chemicals seeping from rusty drums pose a particularly potent threat.
In total, some 20,000 tons of poisons such as DDT, Lindane, and Malathion need disposal at a cost of about $80 million. "While a cleanup operation is planned in Tanzania and Ethiopia soon, funded through a $4-million donation from the U.S., the Netherlands and Sweden, little financial support has been pledged by the agrochemical industry," Redfern writes, and the FAO would like to see more money from Western firms and governments.
