Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin has officially declared that Bangladesh free from dangerous Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, pesticide.
The minister made the announcement at a press conference at the ministry on Sunday (January 8). The press conference was organised on the occasion of the successful removal of 500 tonnes of DDT from the medical sub-depot of Chattogram and the World Biodiversity Conference.
Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Habibun Nahar, Secretary to the ministry Dr Farhina Ahmed, Additional Secretaries Md Mizanul Hoque Chowdhury and Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik and Director General of Department of Environment (DoE) Md Abdul Hamid were present at the press conference, among others.
In 22 containers, the ministry with the help of other organisations safely exported the DDT between October 30 and December 10 last year, said the minister.
Earlier, about 500 tonnes of pesticide was stored at the Chattogram Government Medical Subdepot warehouse for 37 years.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a persistent organic pollutant (POP), a chemical that can have significant negative effects on human health and the environment, according to the World Health Organization. Only a few countries, which include France, have plants to destroy the substance.
Use of DDT has been gradually banned or restricted across the world since the mid 20th century.
In mid-1984, the government signed an agreement to import 1,000 tonnes of DDT powder from Pakistan to control malaria. A consignment of 500 tonnes arrived at Chattogram port in the first phase in early 1985.
On March 19 in1985, four samples of the DDT were sent to the World Health Organization in Geneva and Dhaka Testing Laboratory for testing.
After test reports stated that the substance was substandard, the government asked the Pakistani supplier -- Exchange International Limited -- to take the consignment back. But it did not do so.