Schools Proximity to Plantations de Haut Penja , Learners’ 1 Attitudes and Incidence of Pesticide Contamination in 2 Cameroon

5 Learners at school can be subjected to pesticide exposures both from use in the schools and from 6 nearby operations. Plantations de Haut Penja (PHP) is an agro-industrial plantation that uses 7 pesticides to spray its bananas ( Musa spp ) using helicopters. This aerial spray couple with air 8 drift of noxious particles exposes learners in nearby schools to acute and chronic effects. This 9 paper sought to compare learners’ attitudes with regards to pesticide, in schools located closer to, 10 and further away from the PHP as well as the incidence of contamination among the latter. Data 11 was collected from 600 learners across 10 secondary schools in two subdivisions. Analysis was 12 done with Microsoft Excel 2016 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0 13 software. Findings depicted that schools are located 5m away from the PHP where pesticides are 14 used on a daily basis. Hence, this exposes learners to the harmful effects of these chemicals. 15 Wind was perceived as the main driver of pesticides drift into schools as it blows from the south 16 west direction at a maximum speed of 30ms -1 which facilitates the drifting of airborne particles 17 of pesticides. As a result, learners closer to the PHP are more vulnerable than their counterparts 18 further away. Kruskal–Wallis test depicted that learners are also involved in pesticides related 19 activities due to a plethora of reasons which further broadens the incidence of contamination 20 among the latter. The study concludes that an environmental impact assessment be carried out in 21 order to install wind barriers in the PHP to prevent spray drifts from entering into schools and 22 that, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER) with its decentralized 23 units, should ensure strict implementation of the legal framework on pesticide use and the 24 development, application and evaluation of government policy in the domain of agriculture and 25 environmental surveillance for the proper management of pesticides in Cameroon.


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From the early 1990s till present, there have been many concerns about children's exposure and 34 potential health risks related to pesticides around the world (US EPA, 2007). Therefore, the risks 35 of exposure by human population from minor environmental contamination, however, largely go 36 unnoticed. This is due to a dealt in literature on the relationship between residential and schools 37 proximity to agricultural areas where Plant Protection Products (PPP) are used and children's 38 exposure within these agricultural holdings. These PPP are seen as chemical substances whose 39 active ingredients are capable of killing or destroying, repelling pests and diseases on plants as 40 well as regulating plants growth (FAO & WHO, 2014). Therefore, these active ingredients are 41 grouped under diverse chemical groups, some of which are more or less toxic than others and are 42 capable of reacting with the body metabolism and causing harm. 43 Scholars have stressed on the correlation between pesticides and school-aged children or school 44 going population (Curwin et al. 2007; Morgan, 2012) and hold the idea that, people who live 45 closer to agricultural holdings are likely to be affected than people who live in non-agricultural

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In agricultural holdings where pesticides are used on a daily basis, people may be affected 59 through inhaling residues from drift and volatilisation. Other incidences of contaminations are 60 triggered by dermal contacts and ingestion during pesticides application or in the long run, from 61 residues that ooze into soils, accumulates in crops, or seep to groundwater (Brody et al. 2002). 62 Similarly, Muir et al. 2004 have stressed on the ease with which some pesticides compounds 63 undergo short-range atmospheric volatilisation to ecological regions. This is why other findings 64 depict that in studies pertaining to exposure assessment process for quantifying pesticide 65 exposures, it is imperative to define the population under survey, characterise temporal variation 66 in patterns of pesticide use, determine the source of exposure (rate and method of application), 67 and identify possible exposure pathways (residential proximity to the chemical hazards). 68 Pesticide poisoning and/or incidence of pesticides contamination has been a major health concern 69 in Cameroon. Unfortunately, this problem has not been well documented, due principally to 70 inadequate information and the poor understanding of its implications. The PHP, being an agro-71 industrial banana plantation in Cameroon, grows banana on the rich volcanic soils of the coastal 72 lowlands of Cameroon mainly for export. As one of its primordial goals is to increase output, this 73 plantation uses large quantities of pesticides on its bananas. Pesticides application is done on 74 daily bases to spray bananas with the use of helicopters through aerial application. However, 75 spray drifts from these banana estates get into residential areas and/or school yards which are 76 located within 5 to 100m from these plantations; thereby exposing the entire population to the 77 harmful effects of these pesticides. School going population (students) who live closer to the PHP 78 and those who attend school located closer to these banana estates are no exception.

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It is worth stressing at this juncture that the problem posed in this research is somewhat state-of-80 the-art because as most research findings have focused on the health related issues of PPP on 81 farmers and other users, this study looks at the potential exposure and/or contamination of a 82 neutral population (school going population) to these PPP. Thus, the main objective of this 83 present research was to show that apart from farmers who use pesticides on a daily basis, school 84 going population especially those living closer to agricultural holdings are more vulnerable to the 85 harmful effects of pesticides use in these holdings. Hence, the study sought to attain the following 86 objectives: to identify schools located closer to and further away from the PHP banana estates; to 87 assess learners' attitudes/practices vis-à-vis some pesticides related activities closer to and further 88 away from the PHP; and to identify the age group more likely exposed to PPP among school 89 going population and the resultant effects of these toxic chemicals on them. This study also 90 hypothesizes that school going population is potentially exposed to the noxious effects of PPP 91 use in nearby agro-plantations.  The rainfall amount in this area stands >2000mm but shows some significant variability 103 (augmentation) which is witnessed in Njombe (2700mm of rainfall) and in Penja (3000mm of 104 rainfall), (Nkemleke & Kuété, 2020). The rainy season begins from March extending right to 105 October. The dry season on its part, lasts only three months (October to January) and it is more   (Table 1). 120 Ultimately, the last phase involved interviews with key informants like heads of institutions and 121 health personnel and other resource persons to ascertain the authenticity of the responses sourced 122 from learners during surveys with questionnaires. Through questionnaires, 600 learners from ten 123 (10) government and private secondary schools were interviewed with a 100% respondents' rate.

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Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data was collected from 600 128 students in ten (10) schools. This was done through the administering of questionnaire to learners 129 in the selected schools. The questionnaire was to obtain information pertaining to learners' socio-  The Kruskal-Wallis test was run to test whether there was a significant variation in the reasons  The buffer zone was set at 1km. This is the maximum distance from the PHP to schools. This   148 This study made use of some dependent and independent variables (Table 2). These variables are 149 learner's age, incidence of pesticide contamination, category of pesticides, gender, suffer from 150 pesticides effects, live in proximity to PHP, spray during dry/windy weather conditions, training 151 in pesticides use, and interpret pesticides pictograms before use among others.  The socio-demographics of the learners sampled are expressed statistically as gender, age, level 157 of education and/or class, resident, and school. Learners were sampled in ten (10) schools. The 158 first school among the ten was a government bilingual high school (60 learners sampled), school 159 two was a private high school (60 learners sampled), school three was a government technical 160 school (55 learners sampled) and school four was a government college (45 learners sampled), 161 school five was a private college (60 learners sampled), school six was a government high school 162 (30 learners sampled), school seven was a government college (65 learners sampled), school 163 eight was a government college (40 learners sampled), school nine was a government high school 164 (135 learners sampled) and school ten was a private college (50 learners sampled), (Table 3).    (Table 4).   80m, 115m, 239m, 591m, 725m, and 802m respectively. Learners in these schools are exposed to 197 pesticides spray drift and more likely to be harmed by these chemicals than learners whose corresponding distances of 1.327km, 9.963km and 11.973km respectively and learners here are 201 less exposed to pesticides spray drifts and are unlikely to be harmed.  influence the drift of pesticides to schools and resident as the prevailing wind blows towards the 223 direction of schools and residential areas (Fig 3). like school yards. The direction of the prevailing wind is WSW, (Fig 3). Schools proximity to the 237 PHP means that particles are easily drifted from this plantation into inhabited areas. For example,

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A comparative study between learners, who live and school closer to and those further away from 248 the PHP, was conducted to determine learners' attitudes/practices vis-à-vis pesticides and 249 proximity to agro-plantations.

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Learners, whose schools are further away from the PHP, were interviewed on some common 252 pesticides related activities, (Table 5). Their responses were analysed with mean and standard 253 deviation in order to determine the proportion of responses approving or disproving each claim.  (Table 5). showing the severity of its effects. These symptoms could be due to the fact that most of them eat 275 ( ̅ = 1.60) and drink ( ̅ = 1.60) during application of pesticides which further expose them to 276 the harmful effects of these chemicals, (Table 5). 277 These findings prove that although learners in these schools live far away from sprayed 278 farmlands (PHP), they also witness symptoms of pesticides effects. This is due to personal efforts 279 from learners in attempts to alleviate poverty as they are involved in the manipulation of 280 pesticides on their farms which makes them more vulnerable.  (Table 5). 290 In CAMEL, learners live closer to PHP ( ̅ = 1.52) and use pesticides on their farms ( ̅ = 2.00).

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They do not play around when pesticides are sprayed ( ̅ = 1.30) but all witness symptoms of 292 pesticides effects ( ̅ = 1.80). This is because majority of these learners attend school located 293 few meters from the PHP where aerial applications are made. This increases the degree of 294 exposure to pesticides residues drifted to school yards. It should be recalled that these symptoms 295 are always witnessed on at least two or more household members ( ̅ = 1.58) which show the 296 extent to which the population is vulnerable. Learners here do not eat while spraying pesticides 297 but do drink during this activity ( ̅ = 1.37), (Table 5).

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Following this analysis, learners who attend schools closer to PHP are more vulnerable to 299 pesticides effects than the ones further away from this PHP. In this same vein, learners who are 300 further away are equally affected by pesticides but this is due to contact during on-farm activities 301 where pesticides are used in a smaller scale or quantities. This implies that those who are further 302 away from the PHP are less vulnerable and consequently less affected by pesticides.  Findings revealed that learners in GBHS Njombe live closer to the PHP ( ̅ = 1.68), and some 306 use pesticides on their farmlands ( ̅ = 1.72). Thus, this shows the degree of vulnerability to 307 pesticides. These learners do not play around ( ̅ = 1.43) when pesticides are used yet they 308 witness symptoms of pesticides effects ( ̅ = 1.79). This shows that pesticides are drifted and 309 deposited in school where learners get in contact with. Also, they eat ( ̅ = 1.78) and drink ( ̅ = 310 1.86) when aerial sprays of pesticides are done, (Table 6).  (Table 6). This could be due to the fact that learners in this school are more 320 cautious than their peers in other schools.  (Table 6). Meanwhile in 330 College Polyvalent, same symptoms were also perceived on other household members ( ̅ = 331 1.72), but do not persist for a long duration ( ̅ = 1.76). In this same light, learners do not eat 332 when pesticides are sprayed ( ̅ = 1.02), but they drink ( ̅ = 1.48), (Table 6).

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Following these results, it is noticed that almost all learners live closer to PHP in Njombe-Penja    among school going children (Table 8).

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Findings revealed that pesticides related health symptoms and illnesses were common among 390 youths aged between 20-25 years (143 cases) and between ages of 25-30 years (87 cases).

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Meanwhile these symptoms/illnesses were few among youth between the ages 10-15 and 15-20 392 (with 58 and 61 cases respectively) as compared to the former. This therefore, implies that older 393 learners or students are exposed to agropesticides in this area than their younger counterparts.