The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued another warning to the general public against the use of Sniper insecticide and other brands of ‘Dichlorvos’ (DDVP) in preserving foodstuffs which could lead to health implications and possibly death.
Dichlorvos (DDVP) products are generally used for insect control in food storage areas, greenhouses, barns, and for parasite control in livestock.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General, NAFDAC, stressed the dangers involved in the continuous misuse and misapplication of Sniper by the general public, especially grain merchants, beans aggregators and dried fish sellers.
She said these dangerous agrochemicals in edible products cause symptoms such as weakness, headache, tightness in the chest, blurred vision, salivation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, eye and skin irritation, eye pain, runny nose, lack of appetite, dizziness, convulsions, low blood pressure, and possibly death.
The Agency, in view of the above, has come up with regulatory measures which include ban on manufacture, importation, and sale of Sniper and other brands of Dichlorvos.
She also noted that the agency had taken it upon itself to mass sensitise farmers, grain merchants and aggregators in seven different locations across the country on safe use of Crop Protection Products on agricultural commodity storage.
She said, ‘NAFDAC in collaboration with relevant stakeholders organized two sensitization workshops for agro-input dealers on the safe and responsible use of crop protection products in Kano and Oyo states prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. However, this will be extended to the other parts of the country when the condition is more favorable.’
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She stated that amid several warnings by the Agency, some traders are still misusing and misapplying the already banned agrochemical product in preserving foodstuffs, and in so doing, endangering consumers’.
She added by saying that, ‘The agency wishes to inform the general public that our offices nationwide as part of their post-marketing surveillance activities are to ensure enforcement of these regulatory measures and take appropriate sanction against defaulters.’