In this post today, I will be touching on the real life cases that we see of soil pollution caused by textile industries. In our previous post, excessive use of pesticides and the disposal of toxic waste water onto soils are being mentioned. Hence, in this post, we will seek to uncover and look at the real life examples of these causes of soil pollution as well as the devastating repercussions and effects it has.
The example I will be looking at today is that of Pakistan again. In Pakistan, parts of Vehari district is where cotton is commonly grown. Excessive pesticides are being sprayed onto cotton crops to ensure that these farmers are able to yield as much cotton as possible. Research has shown that these farmers do not have sufficient knowledge about these pesticides. In fact, out of the 28 farmers being surveyed, the average education of these farmers are only up to 9 years with 11% of them having no formal education before (Ashfaq et al, 2019). Almost all of the farmers have no knowledge about the physical and chemical properties of the soil they are cultivating cotton on. They also do not have sufficient literacy rate to read the appropriate instructions and amounts they are supposed to apply these pesticides on the crops. Furthermore, it is fairly easy to obtain pesticides in the Vehari district and these farmers merely follow the instructions of the company sales men that are selling these pesticides (Ashfaq et al, 2019). This is a big problem as these pesticides manufacturers are often the ones that are hard selling these pesticides to the farmers with the main purpose of making profits. Hence, these company sales men could possibly sell these pesticides without explaining the full effects and implications behind them.
Research has demonstrated that high amounts of Endosulfan are found in soils in Vehari district. Endosulfan is ‘a low water soluble and polar pesticide, which is absorbed hydrophobically to the soil’ (Ashfaq et al, 2019, p. 20887) and has the ability to persist and bioaccumulate within the soils for a long time. Endosulfan was found highest on the top soil while mediocre amounts were found in the deeper soil layers (Ashfaq et al, 2019). The effects of endosulfan are dire as similar to other types of pesticides. There is a high possibility of runoff from these cotton fields to nearby water bodies which will greatly pollute these water bodies which has been talked about in the previous post. Farmers in the Vehari district are constantly exposed to these pesticides and have observed the poisoning effects on their fellow farmers. Yet, these farmers are not aware of the possible signs or symptoms that a person will begin to show when being affected by these pesticides. When people are exposed to high amounts of endosulfan, they will start to suffer from tremors and seizures (ATSDR, n.d.). These effects are similar to that when animals were exposed to the endosulfan pesticide. Not only that, the most impacted group of farmers are women because cotton picking is usually done by them, hence they are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms as compared to men (Tariq et al., 2007). Children are thus also at risk of being affected by the pesticide through breast milk when women are exposed to these pesticides in the cotton fields. Ultimately, the dose does not make the poisons because there are still various other factors to consider when it comes to the full effects of these pesticides on human health. The length of exposure to these pesticides or the inherent health issues that a person might have will greatly affect how these pesticides will affect human health.
In a nutshell, these are one of the many impacts that the pesticides have on our health. Endosulfan in particular, persists very heavily in Pakistans’ soils where cotton farming is the most prevalent. Perhaps to solve the issue of this excessive spraying of pesticides is to educate the farmers on the full impacts and effects of these pesticides. It has to be acknowledged that these farmers have their own agency too and they are able to assert their control if the correct opportunities were given to them. It is quite possible that some of the soils are being damaged beyond repair, hence the next best alternative to prevent or reduce this trend is to educate the farmers on these pesticides and the soil type they have.
References:
Ashfaq, A., Shahid, M., Khalid, S., Zaffar, H., Naqvi, T., Pervez, A., . . . Nasim, W. (2019). Residues of endosulfan in cotton growing area of vehari, pakistan: An assessment of knowledge and awareness of pesticide use and health risks. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 26(20), 20079-20091. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1007/s11356-018-3169-6
ATSDR (n.d.). Toxic Substances Portal – Endosulfan. Retrieved 5 November 2020 from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=607&tid=113#:~:text=People%20exposed%20to%20high%20levels,to%20high%20levels%20of%20endosulfan.
Tariq, M. I., Afzal, S., Hussain, I., Sultana, N. (2007) Pesticides exposure in Pakistan: A review, Environment International, Volume 33, Issue 8, 1107-1122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2007.07.012
The Guardian. (2011). Pakistan’s cotton farmers reap health benefits from using less pesticide. Retrieved 20 October, 2020 from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/15/better-cotton-pakistan-pesticides-khan
