The proposed project is addressing the improper management of chemicals, including persistent organic pollutants, which gives rise to enormous problems for human health and the environment. Pesticides containing organochlorine and organophosphates as active ingredients have been reported to cause cancer, birth defects, nervous system disorders, kidneys and lung diseases.
Persistent organic pollutants (POP,s) are toxic chemicals that adversely affects human health and the environment around the world. They can be transported by wind and water. Most POP,s generated in one country can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released. They persist for long periods of time in the environment and can accumulate and pass from one species to the next through the food chain.

Many of the persistent organic pollutants included in the Stockholm Convention are no longer produced in a number of countries. However, citizens and habitats can still be at risk from POP?s.

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Although most developed nations have taken strong actions to control POP?s, a great number of developing nations have only fairly recently begun to restrict their production, use and release.

The Stockholm convention adds an important global dimension to our national and regional efforts to control POP?s.
Many POP?s were widely used during the boom in industrial production after World War 2, when thousands of synthetic chemicals were introduced into commercial use.

The project will empower agricultural officers, household families, communities, and by extension the entire population of St Kitts and Nevis to reduce the risks of chemicals exposure and encourage sustainable land management with the end result being reduction in exposure to cancer causative agents.
The majority of persistent organic pollutants (POP?s) identified until now are banned or restricted around the world owing to concerns about their harm to ecosystems and human health. However, this is not the end of the story; even long-banned POP?s still linger in the environment; others are still in use and are being directly emitted; and new POP?s may be identified for which we have limited information.

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