Pesticides (original) (raw)
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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.
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.
Chronic Pesticide Poisoning from Persistent Low-dose Exposures-IJOEH Jan12
Chronic pesticide poisoning is difficult to detect. We sought to develop a low-cost test battery for settings such as Ecuador's floriculture industry. First we had to develop a case definition; as with all occupational diseases a case had to have both sufficient effective dose and associated health effects. For the former, using canonical discriminant analysis we found that adding measures of protection and overall environmental stressors to occupational category and duration of exposure was useful. For the latter, factor analysis suggested three distinct manifestations of pesticide poisoning. We then determined sensitivity and specificity of various combinations of symptoms and simple neurotoxicity tests from the Pentox questionnaire, and found that doing so increased sensitivity and specificity compared to use of acethylcholinesterase alone-the current screening standard. While sensitivity and specificity varied with different case definitions, our results support the development of a low-cost test battery for screening in such settings. Key words: pesticide poisoning; chronic exposure; Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES2); biomarker indices of toxicity; Ecuador; floriculture; validity of acetylcholine esterase; environmental stressors INT J OCCUP ENVIRON HEALTH 2012;18:11-24
Commentary: Novel strategies and new tools to curtail the health effects of pesticides
Environmental Health, 2021
Background: Flaws in the science supporting pesticide risk assessment and regulation stand in the way of progress in mitigating the human health impacts of pesticides. Critical problems include the scope of regulatory testing protocols, the near-total focus on pure active ingredients rather than formulated products, lack of publicly accessible information on co-formulants, excessive reliance on industry-supported studies coupled with reticence to incorporate published results in the risk assessment process, and failure to take advantage of new scientific opportunities and advances, e.g. biomonitoring and "omics" technologies. Recommended Actions: Problems in pesticide risk assessment are identified and linked to study design, data, and methodological shortcomings. Steps and strategies are presented that have potential to deepen scientific knowledge of pesticide toxicity, exposures, and risks. We propose four solutions: (1) End near-sole reliance in regulatory decision-making on industry-supported studies by supporting and relying more heavily on independent science, especially for core toxicology studies. The cost of conducting core toxicology studies at labs not affiliated with or funded directly by pesticide registrants should be covered via fees paid by manufacturers to public agencies. (2) Regulators should place more weight on mechanistic data and low-dose studies within the range of contemporary exposures. (3) Regulators, public health agencies, and funders should increase the share of exposure-assessment resources that produce direct measures of concentrations in bodily fluids and tissues. Human biomonitoring is vital in order to quickly identify rising exposures among vulnerable populations including applicators, pregnant women, and children. (4) Scientific tools across disciplines can accelerate progress in risk assessments if integrated more effectively. New genetic and metabolomic markers of adverse health impacts and heritable epigenetic impacts are emerging and should be included more routinely in risk assessment to effectively prevent disease. Conclusions: Preventing adverse public health outcomes triggered or made worse by exposure to pesticides will require changes in policy and risk assessment procedures, more science free of industry influence, and innovative strategies that blend traditional methods with new tools and mechanistic insights.
Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: 4. Pesticides
Cmaj Canadian Medical Association Journal Journal De L Association Medicale Canadienne, 2002
PESTICIDE EXPOSURE CAN CAUSE MANY DIFFERENT HEALTH EFFECTS, from acute problems such as dermatitis and asthma exacerbation to chronic problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. The resulting clinical presentations are undifferentiated, and specific knowledge of the links to environmental exposures is often required for effective diagnosis. In this article we illustrate the use of the CH 2 OPD 2 mnemonic (Community, Home, Hobbies, Occupation, Personal habits, Drugs and Diet), a history-taking tool that assists physicians in quickly identifying possible environmental exposures. We also provide clinical information on the epidemiology, clinical presentations, treatment and prevention of pesticide exposures.
Acute Human Lethal Toxicity of Agricultural Pesticides: A Prospective Cohort Study
PLoS Medicine, 2010
Background: Agricultural pesticide poisoning is a major public health problem in the developing world, killing at least 250,000-370,000 people each year. Targeted pesticide restrictions in Sri Lanka over the last 20 years have reduced pesticide deaths by 50% without decreasing agricultural output. However, regulatory decisions have thus far not been based on the human toxicity of formulated agricultural pesticides but on the surrogate of rat toxicity using pure unformulated pesticides. We aimed to determine the relative human toxicity of formulated agricultural pesticides to improve the effectiveness of regulatory policy.
2013
The European Food Safety Authority asked the Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues to develop an Opinion on the identification of pesticides to be included in cumulative assessment groups (CAGs) on the basis of their toxicological profile. In 2008, the PPR Panel adopted an Opinion on the suitability of existing methodologies for cumulative risk assessment of pesticides and a tiered approach was proposed, which was applied to a selected group of triazole pesticides in 2009. The present Opinion suggests a methodology for grouping of pesticides based on phenomenological effects and provides CAGs for the thyroid and nervous system. This approach can be applied even when the underlying biochemical events mediating the effects are not understood, and is based on a standardised and thorough review of Draft Assessment Reports (DARs) supporting the approval of all pesticides in Europe, and on recommendations from the European Commission. Pesticidal active substances exhibiting neurotoxic properties were allocated to CAGs for acute effects on motor, sensory and autonomic divisions of the nervous system and neurochemical endpoints. Chronic effects across the same divisions/endpoints and neuropathological effects were collated. Active substances having adverse effects on the thyroid system were allocated to CAGs for effects either on C-cells/the calcitonin system or on follicular cells/the T3/T4 system. The PPR Panel notes that the resulting groups encompass many pesticides and also that individual pesticides could appear in several groups and therefore the data entries for performing cumulative risk assessment (CRA) are of considerable magnitude. Although some CAGs contain a large number of pesticides, little indication of cumulative risk may be inferred from the size of CAGs per se. The PPR Panel recommends that the methodology
Outcome of the pesticides peer review meeting on general recurring issues in ecotoxicology
EFSA Supporting Publications, 2015
This technical report reflects the outcome of the mammalian toxicology experts' meeting on general recurring issues noted during the EFSA peer reviews of pesticide active substances under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The main issues identified were related to genotoxicity of products and principles of (Q)SAR and read-across. General presentations on the different EFSA guidance and EFSA developmental activities related to human health risk assessment of pesticides were given.