The UN Environment Programme has warned that the environmental and health costs of pesticide exposure in Sub-Saharan Africa could reach nearly $100 billion over 15 years.

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The potential cost of pesticide-related illnesses in the region is estimated at $90 billion (£55bn) between 2005 and 2020, more than the total amount of international aid for health services (excluding HIV/Aids) available.

In a report released this week, the UN agency warned that weaker regulation on chemicals used is leading to massive effects on human health and local ecosystems. UNEP urged governments and industry to expedite efforts to replace damaging chemicals in line with targets set a decade ago.

One of the report’s lead authors, Rachel Massey of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute, said toxic chemical production is increasing worldwide, but that increases are most dramatic in ‘emerging economies’. She said that, from now until the end of the current decade, chemical production in North America and Europe is expected to grow by 25 per cent, whereas in Asia-Pacific production will increase 50 per and in Africa and the Middle East 40 per cent

The UNEP report’s authors warned that, of the 140,000 chemical products on the market today, only a fraction been thoroughly tested for effects on the environment and human health. They said poisoning from industrial or agricultural chemicals is one of the five most common causes of premature death worldwide, thought to be responsible for over a million fatalities worldwide each year.

In Egypt, the government has launched a campaign to provide information on agrochemical products for farmers in response to widespread use of banned or counterfeit chemicals in the country. At the beginning of the year, Europol, the European crime intelligence service, announced that counterfeit and banned pesticides are circulating in the EU. The problem is thought to be especially severe in North-Western Europe, where up to 25 percent of chemical products are thought to have been purchased illegally.

Also in Europe, health and safety watchdog EFSA announced earlier this year that current risk assessment practices provide inadequate protection for bees and other insect pollinators and a team of German researchers revealed that there is a lack of provisioning for bats, which as well as being an iconic species are vital for pest control and pollination. The researchers called for a re-evaluation of current risk assessment practices.

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