February is the month of love and love is best expressed through colour- but buyer beware, colour may mask imminent pain, suffering and death.
The vibrant hues of the flowers exchanged— with Valentine’s Day as its pinnacle — are produced using chemicals that are banned elsewhere.
According to a 2023 Route to Food Report, 76 per cent of the total volume of pesticides used in Kenya are categorised as highly hazardous and 44 per cent of these pesticides are banned in the European Union.
This means Kenyan farmers and consumers are exposed to pesticide products that have the capacity to disrupt the human hormonal systems, nervous systems, induce genetic mutations and cancer, and pose threats to reproductive systems and unborn children.
Bad business practices motivated by greed and huge returns on investment can be more harmful than Nazism. An unchecked desire for profit can ignite a frensied economic Armageddon in which human wellbeing is sacrificed at the altar of the balance sheet.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian-American psychologist once said, a business is successful to the extent that it provides a product or a service that contributes to happiness in all of its forms. However, in recent times, ‘success’ appears to be measured solely in terms of humongous profits, even when these come at the expense of consumers’ health.
In mid-February, I spoke at a conference on Business and Human Rights and specifically on the issue of integrity. My discussion zeroed in on how companies chasing excessive profits often cut corners to produce items that appeal to consumers by any means necessary, including the use of banned or harmful substances
The recent Kenya Medical Research Institute annual scientific and Health conference symposium on Environmental Exposures and Women's Health in Kenya, which had seasoned researchers, confirms my worries.
The tabling of evidence that many beauty products contain harmful carcinogenic and other banned harmful metallic and health-threatening ingredients must shake every Kenyan to the core.
This is in the backdrop of increased cancer cases, which are depleting families’ resources due to the high cost medicare in Kenya.
The question is why one would want to use ingredients that are not only harmful to the consumers but also harmful to their conscience, if they have any? The answer lies in the fact that every business stands on the desire for maximum Return on Investment.
The recent findings tabled during Kemri’s conference and published in the Frontiers in Public Health disclosed evidence that many beauty products, which are easily available, contain chemicals with adverse health outcomes.
Out of the 22 sampled products, 12 were made in Kenya, and the rest were from Uganda, Egypt, South Africa and the US.
Researchers identified 27 chemicals of concern, 22 of which were documented, while 14 hair relaxer products listed undisclosed ingredients. The study also found four substances prohibited under European Union Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetics, to which the East African Standard (KS EAS 377–1: 2013) refers.
Alarmingly, 15 of the products bore the label “for professional use only”, yet were easily available over the counter.
Beauty products is just one industry that poses serious health challenges to Kenyans. Wall paint, which passes as an innocent beautifier, is another deadly thing. Many Kenyans remain unaware that some paints in the market still contain lead levels above the recommended safety limits, posing health issues.
Despite a 2018 ban, a University of Nairobi-led study recently found that lead and hexavalent chromium — a dual-threat combination involving neurotoxic lead and cancer-causing chromium — remain in widespread use across Kenya.
The ban followed a 2017 study by the Centre for Environment Justice and Development and the International Pollutants Elimination Network, which revealed that 69 per cent of solvent-based enamel paints contained lead levels above 90 parts per million, with some exceeding 10,000 ppm.
The government cited the irreversible health impacts of lead exposure on children, including reduced IQ and learning disabilities, as justification for the stricter regulation.
Consumers are also enticed through the visual appeal of food. Manufacturers enhance appearance by adding colouring agents. Yet some foods and beverages on the market contain non-permitted synthetic colours or excessive amounts of approved ones. Such practices can lead to mutations, cancers, reduced haemoglobin levels and allergic reactions.
There are many laws governing the production of consumables by the government; enforcement of the same remains a mirage.
Despite the glaring health challenges in Kenya ranging from cancers, lifestyle diseases to maternal deaths, it remains a shocker that the responsible government agencies are either compromised, lax or incompetent to tame this ghost of colour in Kenyan lifestyles.
Lucas Kimanthi is an Assistant Director at the KNCHR. He, however, writes in his personal capacity. [email protected], www.lucaskimanthi.co.ke
