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Experts call for eco-friendly pesticides

Abu Dhabi - Use of chemical pesticides not only affect people and animals directly, but also leaves an impact on environment in the long term.

The use of chemicals must be the last resort in controlling pests and insects in homes and offices, according to experts in the field.
Many cases of deaths resulting from people inhaling poisonous fumes after pest control firms used bad chemicals in homes have been reported in the UAE in the past years.
Duncan Pearce, director of HPL-fm.com, a firm promoting an eco-friendly non-toxic pest control solutions in the UAE, said: "The only way to protect people 100 per cent is to totally ban all chemicals under licence regular monitoring."
According to Pearce, use of chemical pesticides not only affect people and animals directly, but also leaves an impact on environment in the long term.
Last year, Sharjah Municipality had fined 45 pest control firms after they were caught using prohibited pesticides in homes during inspections, an indication that some pest control firms were still spraying  the UAE homes with banned chemicals that can be life-threatening if incorrectly handled.
Pearce told Khaleej Times that it was due to a personal experience from chemical usage and the side effects, they decided to investigate alternative ways to perform pest control treatments without the associated risks.
"A pro-active push towards the elimination of chemicals through educating people on alternative methods is needed. The problem we find the chemicals are a cheap and nasty way of doing things but the pests are getting more and more immune so more volume of harmful chemicals to achieve the same results where chemical free products will never allow for resistance to be built," added Pearce.
Meanwhile, owner of a pest control firm in Sharjah, Mohammed S., said pesticides registered by UAE authorities don't cause any harm to people but the problem could be residents using unregistered firms that might use bad or banned chemicals to kill insects.
"I have been in the pest control industry for more than 10 years now and I haven't gotten any problem with the use of authorised pesticides. The issue is that all firms should strictly adhere to regulations by environmental authorities," said Mohammed.  
For Seguel Geraldine, sustainability manager at Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, the public should be educated about integrated pest management, which focuses on long-term prevention of pests including the use of non-toxic chemicals in targeted locations for targeted species.
"The use of pesticides must be the last resort where no other solutions could be found to the cause of the problem. These chemicals also harm ecosystems and species," she said.
Deaths from use of harmful chemicals
> In March 2015, a three-week-old Syrian boy died after inhaling aluminium phosphide that had seeped into the family apartment through the air vents from a neighbouring apartment in Sharjah.
> In August 2014, a three-year-old Filipino girl died in a Dubai hospital where she was being treated for pesticide poisoning.
> In a separate incident in the same month, a Filipino died and five others were hospitalised after inhaling the highly toxic 'rodent-cide', which leaked into their apartment from a neighbouring flat.
Measures to control harmful chemicals
The UAE has initiated strict measures over the recent years to control and prevent the use of harmful chemicals.
Health officials in Dubai have issued warnings about hiring illegal companies, with municipal regulations prohibiting importing, handling and trading of pesticides without permission.
Officials said the pesticides used must comply with specifications approved by Dubai municipality, health and environmental standards and technical requirements.
In Abu Dhabi, pest control companies must be registered with the Centre for Waste Management and the Department of Economic Development.
In Sharjah, the companies must register with the municipality.
Besides, the Ministry of Environment and Water last year issued a new resolution that prohibits the distribution of any pesticide without proper registration from the ministry.
According to the new resolution, banned pesticides cannot be registered or imported into the country, while companies are barred from using pesticides without the ministry's approval.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com