Health hazards and adoption of personal protective equipment during cotton harvesting in Pakistan
TL;DR: Results of logit model show that health cost, age, education below 8th grade, perception of temporary impact and health problems are important determinants of adopting PPE among the cotton pickers.
About: This article is published in Science of The Total Environment.The article was published on 2017-11-15. It has received 30 citations till now.
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TL;DR: ILDs with a progressive-fibrosing phenotype appear to be more common in older adults and are associated with a complex network of environmental and genetic factors, and where further data are needed in comparison to the well-studied IPF indication is noted.
Abstract: The availability of epidemiological data relating to interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) has increased over recent years, but information on the prevalence and incidence of ILDs of different aetiologies remains limited. Despite global distribution, the proportion of patients who develop a progressive phenotype across different ILDs is not well known. Disease behaviour is well documented in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis but idiosyncratic in other ILDs that may present a progressive fibrosing phenotype. Possible reasons may include the heterogeneous nature of the aetiology, the complexity of diagnosis (and subsequent documentation of cases) and the methods employed to retrospectively analyse patient databases. This review presents a broad overview of the epidemiological data available for ILDs that may present a progressive-fibrosing phenotype, collectively and stratified according to clinical classification. We also note where further data are needed in comparison to the well-studied IPF indication.
129 citations
TL;DR: Health problems from pesticide exposure during cotton harvest and the use of personal protective measures among 260 female cotton-picking workers from Shaheed Benazirabad District of Sindh Province in southern Pakistan are illustrated.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the importance of personal protection equipment (PPE) in pesticide applications in agriculture and highlight the need for up-to-date, accurate, and easy to understand information in the training of farmers in the use of PPE.
33 citations
TL;DR: Extensive use of pesticides in agricultural production results in increased health risks and health costs, productivity loss, and degradation of the environment as mentioned in this paper, and farmers' risk perceptions of pestic...
Abstract: Extensive use of pesticides in agricultural production results in increased health risks and health costs, productivity loss, and degradation of the environment. Farmers’ risk perceptions of pestic...
27 citations
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted surveys among two groups of farmers, namely, those who perceive that their ill-health is due to exposure to pesticides and obtained treatment and those who were diagnosed by doctors and who were treated in hospital for exposure.
Abstract: It is now well known that pesticide spraying by farmers has an adverse impact on their health. This is especially so in developing countries where pesticide spraying is undertaken manually. The estimated health costs are large. Studies to date have examined farmers’ exposure to pesticides, the costs of ill-health and their determinants based on information provided by farmers. Hence, some doubt has been cast on the reliability of such studies. In this study, we rectify this situation by conducting surveys among two groups of farmers. Farmers who perceive that their ill-health is due to exposure to pesticides and obtained treatment and farmers whose ill-health have been diagnosed by doctors and who have been treated in hospital for exposure to pesticides. In the paper, cost comparisons between the two groups of farmers are made. Furthermore, regression analysis of the determinants of health costs show that the quantity of pesticides used per acre per month, frequency of pesticide use and number of pesticides used per hour per day are the most important determinants of medical costs for both samples. The results have important policy implications.
27 citations
References
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TL;DR: New tools or techniques with greater reliability than those already existing are needed to predict the potential hazards of pesticides and thus contribute to reduction of the adverse effects on human health and the environment.
Abstract: Pesticides are widely used in agricultural production to prevent or control pests, diseases, weeds, and other plant pathogens in an effort to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality. Although pesticides are developed through very strict regulation processes to function with reasonable certainty and minimal impact on human health and the environment, serious concerns have been raised about health risks resulting from occupational exposure and from residues in food and drinking water. Occupational exposure to pesticides often occurs in the case of agricultural workers in open fields and greenhouses, workers in the pesticide industry, and exterminators of house pests. Exposure of the general population to pesticides occurs primarily through eating food and drinking water contaminated with pesticide residues, whereas substantial exposure can also occur in or around the home. Regarding the adverse effects on the environment (water, soil and air contamination from leaching, runoff, and spray drift, as well as the detrimental effects on wildlife, fish, plants, and other non-target organisms), many of these effects depend on the toxicity of the pesticide, the measures taken during its application, the dosage applied, the adsorption on soil colloids, the weather conditions prevailing after application, and how long the pesticide persists in the environment. Therefore, the risk assessment of the impact of pesticides either on human health or on the environment is not an easy and particularly accurate process because of differences in the periods and levels of exposure, the types of pesticides used (regarding toxicity and persistence), and the environmental characteristics of the areas where pesticides are usually applied. Also, the number of the criteria used and the method of their implementation to assess the adverse effects of pesticides on human health could affect risk assessment and would possibly affect the characterization of the already approved pesticides and the approval of the new compounds in the near future. Thus, new tools or techniques with greater reliability than those already existing are needed to predict the potential hazards of pesticides and thus contribute to reduction of the adverse effects on human health and the environment. On the other hand, the implementation of alternative cropping systems that are less dependent on pesticides, the development of new pesticides with novel modes of action and improved safety profiles, and the improvement of the already used pesticide formulations towards safer formulations (e.g., microcapsule suspensions) could reduce the adverse effects of farming and particularly the toxic effects of pesticides. In addition, the use of appropriate and well-maintained spraying equipment along with taking all precautions that are required in all stages of pesticide handling could minimize human exposure to pesticides and their potential adverse effects on the environment.
1,606 citations
"Health hazards and adoption of pers..." refers background in this paper
...Similarly cotton pickers rarely adopt PPE during cotton picking (Damalas and Eleftherohorinos, 2011; Bakhsh et al., 2016)....
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20 Feb 2014
TL;DR: Saravi and Shokrzadeh, 2011 as discussed by the authors have shown that the new area that can be increased for cultivation purposes is very limited and the increasing world population has therefore put a huge amount of pressure on the existing agricultural system so that food needs can be met from the same current current resources like land, water etc.
Abstract: Increase in food production is the prime-most objective of all countries, as world population is expected to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2050 Based on evidence, world population is increasing by an estimated 97 million per year (Saravi and Shokrzadeh, 2011) The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has in-fact issued a sobering forecast that world food production needs to increase by 70%, in order to keep pace with the demand of growing population However, increase in food production is faced with the ever-growing challenges especially the new area that can be increased for cultivation purposes is very limited (Saravi and Shokrzadeh, 2011) The increasing world population has therefore put a tremen‐ dous amount of pressure on the existing agricultural system so that food needs can be met from the same current resources like land, water etc In the process of increasing crop pro‐ duction, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, fertilizers and soil amendments are now being used in higher quantities than in the past These chemicals have mainly come into the picture since the introduction of synthetic insecticides in 1940, when organochlorine (OCl) insecticides were first used for pest management Before this introduction, most weeds, pests, insects and diseases were controlled using sustainable practices such as cultural, mechanical, and physical control strategies
276 citations
"Health hazards and adoption of pers..." refers background in this paper
...Based on the medical and other scientific studies (Tariq et al., 2007; Blair and Freeman, 2009; Schachter et al., 2009; Thelin et al., 2009; Tahir and Anwar, 2012; Gill and Garg, 2014), health problems reported by the respondents were categorized into chronic and acute health symptoms....
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TL;DR: This is the first systematic review of studies done since 1960 to give an integrated picture of pesticides exposure to humans, animals, plants, waters, soils/sediments, atmosphere etc. in Pakistan and will set the future course of action of different studies on pesticide exposure in Pakistan.
258 citations
"Health hazards and adoption of pers..." refers background in this paper
...Based on the medical and other scientific studies (Tariq et al., 2007; Blair and Freeman, 2009; Schachter et al., 2009; Thelin et al., 2009; Tahir and Anwar, 2012; Gill and Garg, 2014), health problems reported by the respondents were categorized into chronic and acute health symptoms....
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TL;DR: This document provides the historical overview and country specific environmental legislation of OCPs from the South Asian region in the context of their illegal use and storage for extended periods and still until to date.
216 citations
"Health hazards and adoption of pers..." refers background in this paper
...Although highly dangerous to animal and plant health, organochlorine pesticides are commonly used in the South Asia (Ali et al., 2014) because of cost effectiveness and good control against pests (Zhou et al....
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...Although highly dangerous to animal and plant health, organochlorine pesticides are commonly used in the South Asia (Ali et al., 2014) because of cost effectiveness and good control against pests (Zhou et al., 2013)....
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