BY FIKADU BELAY
Chemicals are increasingly accelerating the daily grind. We employ tools in particular to stay current in the field of technology so that the products we supply in many fields are more effective. In other words, chemicals are required for everything, even cleaning our clothing and food.
In our nation, chemical is used for many purposes; with the agriculture sector using the greatest amount of the chemicals produced and imported says Director General of Environmental Law Enforcement of the Federal Environmental Protection Authority, Girma Gemechu. This is because agriculture accounts for 46 % of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The industrial sector consumes 17 % of the chemicals. The remaining chemicals are utilized in the service industry, such as in medical institutions, and Educational institutions that apply them for different types of research, among others, he added.
Despite the fact that chemicals are useful, they can cause serious harm to the environment if they are not used correctly and maintained. It is degraded into hazardous waste, particularly near the end of their useful lives. Chemical waste that is not handled properly has the potential to contaminate and pollute water sources. This kind of industrial water pollution has a wide range of root causes, and it affects both aquatic and terrestrial life negatively.
Industrial sites, construction sites, and factories produce toxic chemicals or use them in manufacturing. The chemicals are then exposed to rainwater, which causes them to be washed into the soil or directly into rivers, streams, or lakes. This is one of the main factors leading to an increase in industrial chemical waste water pollution.
When contaminated water enters significant water sources, it is no longer fit for human consumption or other uses. In the industrialized world, fixing this is difficult, costly, and sometimes time taking. Communities in impoverished nations may find it difficult to obtain safe drinking water as a result, which can have a negative impact.
The temperature of water bodies can drastically affect aquatic and marine life. Thermal pollution can occur when dangerous substances are left behind at the bottom of a body of water. Over time, for people, animals, and marine life, this may have major health consequences.
Generally, chemical waste can have significant negative effects on the environment and human health. Exposure to toxic chemicals found in chemical waste can cause various health problems, including cancer, headaches, birth defects, and neurological disorders. In addition, chemical waste can contaminate soil and water sources, polluting the ecosystem and harming wildlife. Therefore, it is essential to handle and dispose of chemical waste safely to minimize the negative impacts on human health and the environment.
According to him chemical waste prevention measures that institutions apply, and any public or private organizations that use chemicals should do so responsibly and appropriately dispose them off once they go obsolete. The majority of society associates trash disposal with burning or burying. This further raises the compounds’ toxicity. Burning this hazardous trash can contaminate the environment and harm human health. Moreover, it depletes the ozone layer, which traps solar energy and raises temperatures while promoting the evaporation and drying water from lakes and other bodies of water.
It is well known that the recent rise in temperature in Europe caused numerous deaths and the destruction of millions of properties. He emphasized that it is the duty of the Environmental Safety Protection Authority to stop any chemicals from endangering people or the environment as well as to ensure the least harm possible if at all the chemicals introduced by the investors who are involved in the chemical extraction and production business inflict harm on people or natural resources.
He pointed out that there is a law that has recently been introduced to clean up expired industrial chemicals that are accumulated in the country. In this sense, the work of the disposal system is being done by giving various trainings in the fields of prevention and elimination. Apart from simplifying the disposal of chemicals, the importers are required to report the types and amounts of chemicals they have brought into the country. To control this, different manpower and new technologies have been trained and installed, he added.
For more than a decade, the owners of large agricultural and existing industries have brought many chemicals and disposed of the ones that have expired without using them. These chemicals that the country applied to prevent malaria epidemics are being used on cotton plantations, and they are being discarded after they become obsolete.
According to him, organo chlorine can be burned like any other garbage and cannot be buried, even if DDT and organo phosphate, which were no longer in use in our nation since 12 years back, are still present in some warehouses. It is possible to dispose of these substances by packing them carefully and sending them to nations that have the technology, as it is not available in our country. A significant lot of money would be needed, he said.
Related to this the institute’s data indicates that there is no accumulation of chemicals that can cause disasters like explosions in Addis Ababa. Importation of such kinds of chemicals is not allowed, he said adding that the city’s demand for chemical supply contains only non-flammable compounds by nature. “Of course they have a potential to cause damage, but handling issues make the damage obvious for a very long time” He claimed that there is no chemical stockpile in the nation that might lead to such a crisis.
The city’s claimed chemical deposits have been cleaned up and verified, and as a result, the community has been calmed down because there are no such deposits. He also mentioned that simple chemicals are being eliminated in the country by coordinating with Addis Ababa University Chemistry Department teachers and other chemical engineering experts.
He said that although chemical waste needs support according to the international agreement, we request private investors to provide financial and technical support. According to Girma, as long as we have technology, it is possible to bury in a way that does not hurt people or the environment, but it is not possible to throw or bury anything outside the legal boundaries.
When handling chemicals, communities in Addis Abeba or anywhere else in the nation should exercise due caution. According to Girma, the institute will keep stepping up its efforts to ensure that chemicals don’t hurt both people and the environment in the future.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 28 MARCH 2023
