Environmental and Health Situation with Obsolete Pesticides in Egypt

摘要

Obsolete pesticides are pesticides that are unfit for further use or for re-conditioning as they have been de-registered locally or banned internationally. More commonly, however, a stock of pesticides becomes obsolete because of long-term storage during which the product and/or its packaging degrade. The total quantity of potentially obsolete pesticides held in developing countries and countries with economies in transition is thought to be huge, on the order of tens or hundreds of thousands of tons. The amount can only be estimated, however, because many stocks have not been inventoried or even located. The problem of obsolete pesticides is very serious and action is urgently needed to identify and secure or eliminate existing stocks and prevent new accumulations. Stocks of obsolete pesticide that stay unmanaged can pose a serious health hazard, especially to people living near these stocks. Comprehensive information about the impact on public health is scarce and there has been no attempt to systematically document health effects. Egypt shares most of the environmental problems of developing countries. One of the most important health and environmental problems is the obsolete pesticides and this paper will shed the light on the current status of obsolete pesticides in Egypt, environmental and health impacts and efforts conducted by the country to mitigate both short-term and long term impacts.