by Dr. Aboubacar Diara

INTRODUCTION

Environmental pollution has in a few decades become one of the major problems shaping the future of modern technological civilization: because of the nature and extent of its impact, chemical pollution of all land and sea environments threatens not only human health but also the sustainability of the whole biosphere!

The ever more widespread degradation resulting from pollution of the ecosphere threatens the stability of the ecosystems affected, and, as a consequence, the renewal of natural biological and mineral resources, even those up to now considered as inexhaustible and free, such as air and water. As things stand, if the present tendency is not reversed, the sustainability of the development of our civilization will itself be threatened by global environmental disaster, the first signs of which can be seen at this end of the century.

It is not surprising, therefore, that many heads of pollution-causing industries, concerned by those serious pollution problems, should have decided over the last decade to establish specialized departments in their own companies for the protection of the environment, even before regulatory constraints came into force.

In any case, scientific knowledge of the modalities of pollution in the biosphere, and of its effects, not only on individual living creatures, but also on environmental systems as such, is an essential prerequisite for anyone wishing to ensure the quality and sustainability of land and aquatic ecosystems. Such knowledge is the necessary precondition before putting in place any measure to control pollution in the natural environment, even more so for the implementation of methods for preventing it.

In Mali, environmental issues should be seen in terms of the fragility of natural resources in relation to the ever-increasing needs of the population (the regeneration of natural resources is taking place at a very much slower pace in relation to the annual population increase, estimated at 3.2% in 1995 as against 3.7% in 1987).

At the present time, Mali is experiencing not only desertification but also environmental problems with significant harmful impacts on human health and the environment. These problems arise from pollution in all its forms due to the insufficiency or lack of sanitation, poor management of wastes, land insecurity, the wrong use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for agriculture or domestic use.

While pollution from pesticides and fertilizers is a matter for concern, that arising from sewage (both urban and industrial) and from domestic wastes is also a matter of concern.

These problems must be considered as serious constraints to the overall socio-economic development of the country.

This study, dealing only with a review of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) in Mali, consists of two sections:

• The first section will deal with pollution in the Mali urban and rural environments;

The spectacular rate of pollution growth in towns, the importance of the rural exodus, the decrease in purchasing power of the people and the limited resources of the State have as a consequence the degradation of the environment and the quality of life, of both the urban and rural environments.

The environmental situation of towns is characterized by:

The poor condition of the very small sewage network and existing sanitary facilities underscores the great lack of public sanitary facilities in the towns in Mali.

Source: DIARRA J. Marie – 1995

From this table it follows that:

Table 2 gives the average overall composition of refuse for the cities of Bamako, Mopti and Kayes. The similarity between the three cities is to be expected since the popular type of dwelling predominates in all three cases. It should be noted that in Bamako, the volumetric weight (in grammes per litre) is relatively low in comparison with the other cities, which is because a larger fraction is of light refuse such as paper, cardboard and plastic. In all three cities, the composition is predominantly "sand and grit", and "leaves, straw, sand and grit" corresponds to almost 20% of the volume. In the rainy season, constituents that absorb water, such as cardboard, cloth and straw, increase the weight substantially, which doubles the volumetric weight.

The composition of refuse has high percentage of inert material (sand, dust). This phenomenon is often observed in African towns as the roads and the yards of houses are not paved. The low percentage of organic material (leaves, straw, wood) is because of their use for animals. Goats and sheep can often be seen close to the rubbish pits looking for something edible. Glass and plastics, which are non-biodegradable wastes, make up only 2%.

It should also be noted that in Bamako the Sada DIALLO S.A. factory produces 80 tonnes of plastic packaging each year and that in the Mali Lait factory the wastes are basically plastics.

Although half of the solid wastes is collected, mainly by private enterprises and NGOs, the municipalities do not have sufficient transport to respond to a rapidly growing demand. This issue is a matter of concern, because "these plastic materials (polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polystyrene, etc.), besides traces of monomers that may be harmlful, they contain various stabilizers, polymerizers and plastifying agents whose toxicity is not well evaluated" (F. RAMADE, 1992).

The pollution of water resources is increasingly a matter of concern. Although the most visible aspect of the problem is the pollution of surface water, the pollution of groundwater is a real threat. The degradation of the quality of water is shown by biological/chemical pollution and physical pollution. The discharge of untreated sewage into rivers and estuaries contributes most to this type of pollution.

The discharge of industrial wastes with a high toxic material content (tanneries, gold mines) is also dangerous for surface and groundwater (because of drainage and infiltration), just as much as domestic sewage. Moreover, the establishment of the agro-food industry and mining developments tend to aggravate the situation.

It is estimated that 55% of the population of Bamako uses wells for its water supply. These wells are often poorly constructed and are situated close to latrines and sewers. Besides this, the high level of permeability of the soil over time allows wastes to infiltrate and pollute the groundwater. Laboratory tests carried out by the National Water and Energy Department have shown that groundwater in Bamako is highly polluted by pesticides, metals (above all mercury and lead) and other chemical substances. The nitrate content ranges from 0.1% to 1.7%, i.e. three times the WHO standards (NEAP/CID 1997).

Industry in Mali is basically geared to the importation of raw materials, semi-finished products and spare parts, which tends to increase the harmful effects of an unsound use of chemical products.

The industrial plants (118 industries in 1993) are located mainly in the towns of Segou, Kayes, Sikasso, Koulikoro and the District of Bamako.

These industries are essentially processing food and agricultural produce, and making building materials and textiles, and there are also tanneries, chemical industries making pharmaceutical products and mining industries.

Most of these industries are located in the district of Bamako (64% of them), particularly in the industrial areas to the east of the town, beside the river Niger. Despite the low industrialization of the country, it should be noted that the treatment of industrial wastes is insufficient or non-existent: eight industrial units alone in the city of Bamako daily discharge an average of 2,200 m³ of waste water with chemical pollutants, heavy metals and organic pollutants, i.e. an annual volume of 770,000 m³, infiltrating annually into aquifers or directly discharged into the river Niger. An additional 1,600 m³ of waste water per year from the 300 dyeworks in Bamako adds to the pollution.

The problem of the industrial area is a real headache, taking into account that on the same site are found food-processing factories, factories making cloth, candles, drills, chemical products, with each one of them discharging wastewater into drains directly connected to the river.

Tanneries, for example, only use a primary treatment, namely allowing the waste sludge to settle so as to decant waste water from it. Moreover, these wastewaters smell badly even at a distance.

. Sodium sulphate = 54 tonnes a year

. Colouring = 330 kg a year

. Metabisulphate = 5,400 kg a year

. Ammonium sulphate = 54 tonnes a year

. Baychron (for tanning) = 180 tonnes a year

. Acid (bactericide) = 270 kg a year

. Oxygenated water = 7.2 tonnes a year

Similarly, ITEMA is a serious source of pollution because it uses many fixing, colouring and emulsifying agents which are discharged directly in its wastewater into the river without passing through a settling pond.

. Acetone = 378 kg a year

. Albetex = 875 kg a year

. Ammoniac 25% = 40 kg a year

. Appretum EM = 3,082 kg a year

. Belsoft 200 = 2,785 kg a year

. Cantenan TIG = 820 kg a year

. Cottoglarin 04 = 1,800 kg a year

. Sodium acetate = 8,750 kg a year

The SOMAPIL-S.A factory has wastewater that has only received a simple treatment, i.e. decantation to separate the solid products and allows chemically untreated liquid wastes to escape directly into the main collecting drain.

Products specifically used:

. Ammonium chloride = 1,000 tonnes a year

. Zinc chloride = 500 tonnes a year

. Manganese dioxide = 2,000 tonnes a year

. Metal zinc = 2,000 tonnes a year

This area is characterized by a lack of control of urban development planning and the proliferation of slum neighbourhoods: one of the consequences of not having town planning has been the invasion of industrial area by slum buildings. The same scenario can also be observed in smaller towns, in Sadiola (Kayes), for example, for dissolving gold contained in the ground mineral, cyanide is used at the rate of 0.45 kg per ton of minerals. The monthly quantity consumed is 150 tonnes. The water exiting from the gold extraction process, at the point of discharge into the pond in the open air, has a concentration of 80 to 89 ppm of pure cyanide. In the long term, the aquifer, which is 40 metres deep, will be polluted by this discharge of cyanide at the surface. This is the basic reason why the village of Sadiola, situated 6 kilometres from the mines, has been asked to move further away.

It should be noted that recently in March-April 1997, 7 warthogs and 2 cows died after drinking polluted water from this factory.

Products specifically used:

Caustic soda and sodium sulphide are added in the colouring basins to improve the affinity of cloth to dye. Colouring agents can be of natural origin (alginate, caroube, etc.) or synthetic, containing phenolic compounds (Hydanthre, Naphthol, Ressazol entresol, etc.).

Air pollution is caused by industrial activities, by heating systems (smoke) and motor vehicle traffic.

Emissions of carbon dioxide (millions of metric tonnes) from the industries in Mali are estimated at 103 for solid wastes and 100 for liquid wastes. The problem of pollution from industry applies only to Bamako where the first sign is the trail of smoke.

Use of fossil fuels is involved in every activity in our civilization, both upstream of industrial production (factories, power stations) and downstream (automobiles, domestic uses). Despite the incredible squandering of non-renewable resources represented by this, petrol and natural gas are used above all as fuel. In Mali, 72% of the petroleum imported in 1996 was used as fuel, 18% burnt in the form of industrial fuel and 10% for domestic uses.

Imported hydrocarbons are essentially composed of ordinary petrol (20%) premium (4%), paraffin (10%), gas-oil (43%), diesel (16%), fuel oil (2%), and jet fuel (6%). All of these contain sulphur (the sulphur content is between 7.015 and 7.028%).

Besides sulphur, ordinary petrol and premium petrol also contain lead, and have a lead content of about 7.043%.

The foregoing figures may seem to fall outside our scope, but in fact they help to underline the great importance of the importation and use of hydrocarbons in Mali. Over 50,000 automobiles circulate daily in the streets of Bamako (30% of these vehicles are between 10 and 15 years old, 14% more than 20 years and only 13% less than 5 years)(D.N.T. 1997). This state of affairs poses threat to the environment and human health in these times when the constant search for maximum profit takes precedence over any consideration of public health. To be convinced of this, it is enough to consider the serious epidemiological consequences that arise from the pollution of city air by sulphur dioxide, in particular the inevitable increase in chronic bronchitis.

Mali is a country that depends on agro-pastoral activities. Rural area occupy over 95% of the national territory. The most dangerous pollutions in regard to the environment are:

The sources of smoke production are:

. Charcoal making

. Pottery kilns

These various phenomena can be observed virtually all over the country. Mankind is constrained to move in an environment which is more and more permanently exposed to risks of pollution; this "poor living" can arise from many different kinds of pollution, but it falls into two main categories:

In the rural areas, the pollution due to wastewaters is minimal; pollution is produced by domestic sewage and could be actually be controlled by small individual treatment installations for sewage (cesspools, latrines, diffusion wells ...).

Pollution from solid wastes is produced by the use of raw domestic sewage in the fields and by plastic wastes.

In the past 40 years, global production in agriculture, livestock grazing, forestry and fisheries has increased more rapidly than population growth: however, this result has been obtained at the expense of natural resources. Plant and animal production gains have been obtained by means of technologies requiring huge quantities of inputs and using the capacity of the land to the maximum (FAO, 1993).

For this reason, according to many national, political and economic authorities and international institutions, the intensification of agriculture has for long been synonymous with an increase in the use of agricultural inputs, especially pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

In many places in the world, the supply of nutrients for agriculture gives rise to serious environmental problems. The global natural cycles of the main nutrients, based on phosphorus and nitrogen have been modified. While pollution generally results from excessive dosage, insufficient doses can also create problems if the application is over 500 kg. of fertilizer per hectare.

The issue is one of intensive spreading or of lesser quantities on soils that do not retain nutrients well may cause losses due to excessive imports of fertilizing substances.

These excessive inputs contribute to the eutrophication of surface water, the accumulation of nitrates in groundwater, the acidification of soils and the emission of nitric oxide (N₂), one of the greenhouse gases. In Mali, fertilizers are used in agricultural areas especially those covered by the Niger Office (irrigated rice cultivation areas, Malian textile development company) CMDT, and OHVN.

In the Niger Office, the cultivated area is about 45,000 hectares. The annual consumption of mineral fertilizers is estimated at 7,000 tonnes of phosphate of ammonium and 9,500 tonnes of urea.

In the Mali Textile Development Company (CMDT) area from 1986 to 1985, 538,860 tonnes of fertilizer were, used made up of complex cotton (NPK) and urea.

In the Department of Upper the Niger Valley (OHVN) area, the consumption of fertilizer increased from 1,684 tonnes in 1990 to 8,224 in 1995.

. Urea

Pesticides play an essential role in the social and economic progress of the world community and it has been proved that when they are used appropriately they can be very useful, economically effective and virtually without risk. However, a lot remains to be done to ensure the sound environmental management of these substances, in regard to the quality of human life.

Mali is one of the large consumers of pesticides.

During these last years, there has been extraordinary proliferation of importation and formulation in the open air of pesticides of various kinds and with the uncontrolled increase in points of sale and private companies dealing with insect eradication and rodent control. The sector of illegal imports, sale and use of pesticides has also developed greatly.

Most of the pesticides imported are manufactured in Mali are used in the agricultural sector. A small quantity is used for public health against certain disease vectors such as mosquitoes and the tsetse fly.

From 1985 to 1995, the quantities of pesticides used in Mali were estimated to be 3,581 tonnes for solid products and 1,491,724 litres for liquid products and the areas treated were estimated to be 1,290,067 hectares.

It should be pointed out also that in the CMDT area, the quantity of liquid insecticides used has doubled, from 1,222,145 litres to 2,928,200 litres.

The pesticides currently used in Mali belong to the family of the organophosphates, carbonates and the pyrethroid family.

Ethyl Parathion 240 litres

2. Gao Unit: Dieldrine 48,500 litres

Gammophele 9,845 litres

TIN ESSAKO Sector: Dieldrine 22,150 litres

Gammophele 430 litres

Procidacri (Lindane) 1,200 litres

Unknown product 10,200 litres

Aguel Hoc Sector: Dieldrine 3,450 litres

Gammophele 9,130 litres

3. Kayes Base: Dieldrine 200 litres

Lindane 1,155 litres

Segala Sector: Lindane 1,400 litres

Thus the total quantity of outdated products stored in Mali is estimated to be about 110,420 litres, of which 76,820 litres are dieldrine, 19,405 litres Gammophele, 240 litres Ethyl-parathion, 1,200 litres Lindane and 10,200 litres of unknown products. All of these substances belong to the organochloride family.

. Packaging and repackaging units

. SMPC (Malian Chemical Product Company)

. PRODIMAL

. Mali Detergents Company (SODEMA)

. PRIMA

SMPC formulates various ranges of pesticides, while the other three specialize in the formulation, packaging and repackaging of pesticides for domestic use (anti-mosquito aerosols, anti-mosquito spirals).

Wholesale importers

. SMPC

. PRODIMAL

. SODEMA

. SORIMEX

. PRIMA

. SMDD

. SOCIETE NIANGA TIMBELY

. RECOMA.

The entry levels of pesticide products are difficult to assess because the illegal importation networks for these substances are highly developed.

The disorganized nature of the national market is such that no clear view can be obtained of the names and profiles of the persons involved in the sector; the products are sold just like any other product and by all kinds of people.

In Bamako, the main group of retailers of pesticides is that of Afrique Insectes II. This group is concerned with the resale of products coming from Guinea fraudulently and has never imported pesticides. Traders from Guinea are the main suppliers of this group. The Afrique Insectes group has existed in Bamako for the past six years.

The main consumers of these products are individuals, market gardeners, planters of fruit trees and some small pesticide retailers who buy wholesale in order to resell.

The group of small retailers of pesticides in Bamako may well get its supply from the same source as Afrique Insectes II. Some retailers themselves mix products which they know very little about and later sell them on to the general public.

Persons connected with or involved in:

. Maintenance;

. Transport;

The risks posed by the use of pesticides are enormous. According to the International Labour Office, pesticides kill 400,000 people every year and poison 5,000,000 people mostly in developing countries (report, 1994).

Pesticides enter Mali illegally from Côte d'Ivoire (through Kadiolo and Fakela), from Guinea (through Kanieba), from Burkina Faso (through Koro), from Mauritania (through Aourou), from Senegal (through Ambidedi) and the retailing of these products is completely uncontrolled and indiscriminate.

The illegal products are mainly Sunicidine, Actellic, Dunsban, Bromophos, Sevin, Lindane, Dichlorvos, Sumithion and Ofunack, and are in the hands of distributors, small retailers and travelling salesmen using different unlabelled packaging (plastic sachets for pesticides in the form of powder and old metal or plastic cans for liquid pesticides).

The proper procedure for disposing of empty containers is never followed. Empty containers of all kinds of pesticide are on public sale everywhere. These empty containers are generally reused as drinking water containers or to keep food products for the public, mainly by peasants in the rural areas.

Moreover, old bottles are used for the conservation of liquid pesticides.

Distributors, small retailers and travelling salesmen have no form of protection whatsoever. They generally have no training and are ignorant of the dangers posed by pesticides, with very high risks of:

In Mali, pre-sale trials of pesticides are not carried out except in part by certain exporting companies in collaboration with the Rural Economy Institute (IER), the Department of Regulation and Control (DGRC) and the National Rural Support Office (DNAMR).

Pest control education in Mali by no means reaches all the levels of people that handle pesticides.

Very few importers, producers and sellers, even those that are authorized, have the necessary training to give advice to their employees and to purchasers on the way of handling and effectively using pesticides without risk.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the necessary resources are not available to assess the risks posed by the use and handling of pesticides (evaluation of cholinesterase levels and traces of pesticides in organisms).

2.6 Prevention and disposal of outdated products

In the majority of developing countries, there are huge stocks of pest control products that have become unusable. According to FAO estimates, there are stocks of close to 100,000 tonnes of various pesticide substances in Africa. The presence of these stocks can be put down to the following reasons:

- Expected outbreaks of pests not taking place;

- The quality of the formulations being below standard;

- Errors made in the management of supplies, storage and stocks.

The various donors and suppliers have not coordinated their efforts sufficiently, and the beneficiary developing countries have only limited options for refusing delivery.

In many cases, the storage sites and the composition of the pesticides are not known with accuracy. The packaging loses leak resistance little by little, and substances escape that are partly extremely toxic, constituting a danger to people and the environment.

The developing countries are increasingly aware of this source of danger and are currently requesting the support of industrialized countries to dispose of those stocks of pesticides.

Most developing countries are not equipped for the disposal of these reserves in a safe manner and at no risk to the environment. Frequently, the disposal method recommended would seem to be to dispatch those pesticides to a country that has the necessary installations for incinerating hazardous wastes. Given the hazardous nature of these products and the elevated costs of their disposal, the long-term solution for outdated stocks lies in preventive measures, including better management of stocks and their reduction.

FAO is currently assisting several CILSS countries, including Mali, to formulate a proposal for a project to destroy outdated or unusable pesticides, to be submitted to the European Union or other donors for funding.

SECTION II: STRATEGY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MALI

In Mali environmental protection is one of the major concerns of the political and administrative authorities. Problems of safeguarding the environment are dealt with by the Government through its Ministries, particularly the Ministry of Rural Development and Water and the Ministry of Environment and Health.

Major changes are currently taking place in setting up the legal arsenal for environmental protection.

In 1985, Mali adopted the FAO Code of Conduct for the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. The provisions of the Code are not much observed in Mali.

Mali has legislation on pesticide control comprising a law promulgated in August 1995 and an Implementation Decree in November 1995. But it has to be admitted that this regulation, while it exists, is not really functional.

Mali is a signatory to the laws relating to the regulation of the legislation of pesticides, common to States members of CILSS, and CSP decisions are applied by all the Sahelian States; CSP requires the mention of the word "Sahel" on all registered products.

Mali participates in the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) system; no internal regulation regarding the reception and processing of data on PIC has yet been adopted.

The project agreement entitled "Implementation of International Code for the Distribution and Use of Pesticides" has recently been concluded between CILSS and FAO.

This project is part of a global effort that seeks to accelerate the implementation of the International Code of Conduct for the Distribution and Use of Pesticides in six Sahelian countries including Mali. A recent survey on the current status of implementation of the Code of Conduct globally has shown that West Africa is very much behind in this regard.

Mali also accords great importance to the question of toxic wastes. It organized the first Panafrican Conference on Environment and Development held in Africa (January 1991), a conference in the course of which particular stress was laid on a convention seeking to regulate the importation and transit of toxic wastes in Africa.

In 1989, a Law on toxic wastes was promulgated by the National Assembly of the Republic of Mali (Law No.89-61/AN-RM of 13 September 1989), dealing with the banning of the importation and transit of toxic wastes. This law seeks to restrain the importation and transit of toxic wastes in Mali.

The implementation decree of this law (Decree No.90-355/P-RM) has extended control over the importation of useful products that may be toxic, such as pesticides and medicaments (HATIER, 1990).

The Mali Department of Agriculture, through a National Rural Area Support Office, recognizing the limitations of pesticides, has become increasingly concerned with integrated control. This means an approach by which the principles, practices, resources and strategies are chosen in order to control pests while minimizing undesirable effects.

For this purpose, a programme entitled "Pilot Integrated Pest Control Action" was initiated in 1990, by the project UNDP/FAO/MLI/86/009 with a view to reducing the pressure of pests on crops and to minimize the risks of polluting the environment.

At the present time, these Pilot Integrated Pest Control Actions against millet and sorghum pests, targeting mainly grasshoppers, cantharides and diseases, have yielded encouraging results, since they have enabled peasants to acquire increased knowledge of pests and caused a decrease in the use of pesticides, and a decrease in the destruction caused by these pests.

× Water and air pollution

by industry: Total 103

Liquid 100

by changes in the use

of land 2,100

Per capita 0.3

. CH₄ emissions (millions of metric tonnes)

Solid waste 18

Livestock 300

Irrigated rice crop 38

Per capita 0.05

Mali produces, imports and consumes increasing amounts of pesticides and the number of people involved in this sector is becoming larger.

However, the staggering proliferation of production units, and of the importation, sale and use of these products has not been followed by additional measures to help maintain the sanitation of the sector, the preservation and improvement of the health of the population and the protection of the environment.

. Better organization of the sector;

. The setting up of a system for the collection and processing of data;

. Better management of human resources;

. Strengthening control systems;

. Encouragement of research;

. The mobilization of resources for the evaluation of chemical substances;

× UNEP - 1992 - Overall view of chemical pollution

× François RAMADE - 1992 - Prècis d'Ecotoxicologie

× NEAP/CID -1997

. Surveys

. Extracted from documents.