Acute Human Lethal Toxicity of Agricultural Pesticides: A Prospective Cohort Study (original) (raw)
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BMC Public Health
Background Human poisoning by pesticides has long been seen as a severe public health problem. As early as 1990, a task force of the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that about one million unintentional pesticide poisonings occur annually, leading to approximately 20,000 deaths. Thirty years on there is no up-to-date picture of global pesticide poisoning despite an increase in global pesticide use. Our aim was to systematically review the prevalence of unintentional, acute pesticide poisoning (UAPP), and to estimate the annual global number of UAPP. Methods We carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature published between 2006 and 2018, supplemented by mortality data from WHO. We extracted data from 157 publications and the WHO cause-of-death database, then performed country-wise synopses, and arrived at annual numbers of national UAPP. World-wide UAPP was estimated based on national figures and population data for regions defined by the Food and Agriculture...
Pesticide poisoning in Chitwan, Nepal: a descriptive epidemiological study
BMC Public Health
Background: Globally, there is a growing concern over pesticides use, which has been linked to self-harm and suicide. However, there is paucity of research on the epidemiology of pesticides poisoning in Nepal. This study is aimed at assessing epidemiological features of pesticides poisoning among hospital-admitted cases in selected hospitals of Chitwan District of Nepal. Methods: A hospital-based quantitative study was carried out in four major hospitals of Chitwan District. Information on all pesticides poisoning cases between April 1 and December 31, 2015, was recorded by using a Pesticides Exposure Record (PER) form. Results: A total of 439 acute pesticides poisoning cases from 12 districts including Chitwan and adjoining districts attended the hospitals during the 9-month-long study period. A majority of the poisoned subjects deliberately used pesticides (89.5%) for attempted suicide. The total incidence rate was 62.67/100000 population per year. Higher annual incidence rates were found among young adults (111.66/100000 population), women (77.53/100000 population) and individuals from Dalit ethnic groups (98.22/100000 population). Pesticides responsible for poisoning were mostly insecticides (58.0%) and rodenticides (20.8%). The most used chemicals were organophosphates (37.3%) and pyrethroids (36.7%). Of the total cases, 98.6% were hospitalized, with intensive care required for 41.3%. The case fatality rate among admitted cases was 3.8%. Conclusions: This study has indicated that young adults, females and socially disadvantaged ethnic groups are at a higher risk of pesticides poisoning. Pesticides are mostly misused intentionally as an easy means for committing suicide. It is recommended that the supply of pesticides be properly regulated to prevent easy accessibility and misuse. A population-based study is warranted to reveal the actual problem of pesticides exposure and intoxication in the community.
Pattern and Impact of Pesticide Poisoning: A Review of Published Case Reports
Texila International Journal of Public Health, 2024
Pesticides are essential in agriculture and public health, but their use is associated with many adverse health outcomes. The objective of the current study was to review published case reports to elucidate the pattern and health impacts of exposure to various pesticide classes, including organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, organosulfur, botanicals, and biopesticides. We conducted a review of case reports focusing on the health effects of pesticide exposure across different chemical classes. Searches were performed in major scientific databases, and relevant articles were selected based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Data extraction and synthesis were carried out to identify common health outcomes associated with each pesticide class. Organochlorines, despite being largely phased out, still pose risks due to their persistence and bioaccumulation, with links to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Organophosphates, known for cholinergic overstimulation, can lead to respiratory distress and seizures. Carbamates, affecting cholinesterase activity, may cause respiratory paralysis and coma. Pyrethroids disrupt the nervous system and can induce convulsions and alter consciousness. Organosulfur can induce liver damage and renal dysfunction. Botanical pesticides and biopesticides, while generally considered safer, can also cause severe toxicity, including methemoglobinemia and multiorgan failure, as evidenced by rare cases of poisoning. This review highlights the diverse health impacts of pesticide exposure across different chemical classes. It exposes the need for systematic surveillance, longitudinal studies, and comparative assessments between conventional pesticides and biopesticides. Interdisciplinary collaborations are crucial for comprehensive risk assessment and the development of targeted interventions to mitigate these detrimental effects.
Journal of Nepal Medical Association
Introduction: Acute pesticide poisoning is a significant global public health issue that contributes to one of the leading causes of emergency department visits. There is no national data on the incidence of acute pesticide poisoning or the pesticides that cause deaths. The purpose of this study is to find the prevalence of pesticide poisoning among patients who presented to the emergency department with acute poisoning. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study undertaken in a tertiary care hospital from April to September 2021 among patients who presented to the emergency department with acute poisoning. Ethical clearance was obtained from (reference number: 123/2077-78). Convenient sampling was done. Sociodemographic factors, types of poison consumed, route of consumption, reason, motive, and place of poison intake, time elapse in the presentation to the hospital were studied along with psychological factors associated with poisoning. Statistical analysis was done usi...
Deaths from pesticide poisoning: a global response
British Journal of Psychiatry, 2006
SummarySelf-poisoning with pesticides accounts for about a third of all suicides worldwide. To tackle this problem, the World Health Organization announced a global public health initiative in the second half of 2005. Planned approaches were to range from government regulatory action to the development of new treatments for pesticide poisoning. With broad-based support, this strategy should have a major impact on the global burden of suicide.
Antidotes for Pesticide Poisoning: A Review
Pesticide poisoning kills hundreds of thousands of people in India each year. The majority are from deliberate self-poisoning with Organophosphorus pesticides (OP), Aluminium phosphide and Paraquat. The current response from a public health, medical and research perspective is inadequate. There are few proven or effective treatments; in addition, very little clinical research has been done to transfer antidotes shown to work in animal studies into clinical practice. The human toxicity of pesticides is poorly studied and better information might inform a more sustained and appropriate regulatory response. Further understanding may also lead to improvement in diagnosis and treatment. The few effective treatments are not being recommended or delivered in an optimal and timely fashion to poisoned patients. A regional approach to facilitate appropriate pricing, packaging and delivery of antidotes is required.
All groups of pesticides are toxic substances added deliberately to the micro and macro environment for their toxicity and biocidal effects to kill and harm living things. They do get added as their fall out to the environment. This unintentional act has had all the damaging effects not only on the microenvironment where they are used but also the macro and the global environment since their use has become immensely widespread, and they and their degraded or biotransformed products can be carried by air and water to far off distances. They can now be found anywhere on earth, contaminating soil, air, groundwater, surface water, rain, snow, and fog. Even the Arctic ice pack and the deep beds of the ocean are not spared from their presence. They and their residues, which are often more toxic than the parent compounds, have found their pathway into the food chain and have poisoned the birds, fish, wildlife, domestic animals, livestock, and human beings, including newborn babies. The impact of toxicity of pesticides is heavy as well as pervasive owing mainly to a wide range of their application for crop protection and home use as may be estimated from the share of their different classes in the market viz. herbicides 51%, insecticides 25%, fungicides 20% and others 4%. Herbicides have a larger market in the industrialized countries for home use for maintaining the lawns and for managing golf courses, parks and recreation areas. The use of insecticides and fungicides is extensive in crop protection but their home use has grown substantially during the last two decades. Homeowners and urban dwellers are thus at great risk of exposure to the toxic trail of chemical pesticides. The indiscriminate use of these chemicals on a massive scale such as that mentioned above has had profound impact on the living environment. According to a report by UNICEF, UNEP and WHO, the impact of the use of highly toxic chemicals takes the toll of about 5,500 children each day around the world from diseases caused by polluted air, water, food and environmental contaminants, which include the pesticides. Since the 1970s, the incidence of cancers, learning disabilities, autism, diabetes, early puberty, and abnormal penile development has skyrocketed among the children who comprise the most vulnerable group of citizens(ENS, May 10, 2002). It has been pointed out earlier that synthetic chemical pesticides had not been adequately tested for their chronic toxicity and not evaluated at all for their developmental toxicity. The study of developmental toxicology did not make such enviable progress as development of chemicals and that created a complete lack of understanding on how life processes may be affected by potentially toxic chemicals such as the pesticides. Although hazards of chemical poisoning had taken toll of hundreds of lives in the past yet it was not until the mid-1960s that chronic toxicity of the pesticides became a matter of concern. In the mean time evidences continued to pile up on the linkage of many of the hitherto unknown disorders with exposure to chemical pesticides that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and hormone disrupting. Damages done to the health of individuals by chemical pesticides have a wide range starting from acute toxicity with a single dose or exposure, to sub-chronic toxicity resulting from a few exposures and finally to chronic toxicity due to long term persistent exposures for each possible toxic end point. The toxic end points include cancer, damage to organs like the liver, kidney or heart, developmental disorders, damage to the immune system, central nervous system, reproductive system, and to the genes. Organisms, including test animals and man, react differently at different stages of development, particularly while in the womb, where scores of endpoints can be established, depending on the toxicity trail of the chemical pesticides and their end points. Such endpoints were either unknown for reasons of lack of understanding on developmental toxicology or were ignored when the pesticides and other toxic chemicals were introduced into the living systems.