The Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the Ghana Environmental Resource Management Project on Monday began a five-day workshop at Wa to update the skills of agro-input dealers and extension officers in northern Ghana.
The programme will take them through the legal frame work for the control and management of pesticides in Ghana.
The training programme would ensure that agro-input dealers are abreast with their roles and responsibilities under the Ghana Pesticides Law while the extension officers including legally appointed pesticides inspectors are
equipped with the required expertise for post registration surveillance and monitoring of pesticides.
The participants who came from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions are also expected to discuss such topics as; registered pesticides and use patterns, understanding the pesticide label, transportation of pesticides, personal protective equipment, pesticides' poisoning-symptoms and signs, first aid treatment and emergency procedures.
They would further cover the handling of spillage of pesticides, construction and safe management of pesticides retail shops, pesticides
record keeping and undertake field inspections.
Mr Joseph Edmund, a Resource Person, called on pesticide dealers to know how to respond to pesticide spills and never allow any such spill to
get into any water body including sewers and drains.
He said when a water body was contaminated the appropriate state agencies must be contacted immediately and the Environmental Protection
Agency, National Disaster Management Organization, police and the assembly member in the locality notified.
According to him, pesticides had power to kill or cause serious damage to the body and chronic toxicity occurred when a person is regularly exposed to small amounts of pesticides over time.
In the long term, this would produce health effects such as potential tumours, birth defects, reproductive defects, systemic defects, allergies and carcinogenic effects.