The benefits of crop protection products have to be balanced against the risks to farmers and other agricultural workers handling and applying them. The extent of acute pesticide poisoning in these workers, particularly in less developed countries, has often been based on inadequate information. A number of approaches have been taken by researchers to acquire information on pesticide poisoning. These have resulted in worldwide (global) estimates and regional, localised or field assessments. The methods include descriptive epidemiology, cross-sectional and case studies. Attempts to estimate global pesticide poisonings have often been based upon extrapolations and assumptions from chemical-related fatalities in a small number of countries; such estimates do not provide reliable data. Epidemiological studies, relying mainly on hospital and poison centre data, have been biased towards the more severe poisonings, whereas field studies indicate that occupational pesticide poisoning is associated with less severe and minor effects. Many reports do not adequately distinguish between intentional, accidental and occupational pesticide poisoning statistics or are dominated by cases of intentional (suicidal) poisoning which, by their nature, result in severe or fatal results. The majority of reports do not adequately describe whether individual cases are minor, moderate or severe poisonings. In order to assess information on acute pesticide poisoning in agricultural workers in less developed countries and to draw conclusions on the extent and severity of occupational poisoning, the most recent (post-1990) literature was reviewed. Data were also derived from the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Labour Office (ILO). The collected information was analysed to assess the extent and severity of occupational acute pesticide poisoning in less developed countries. Occupational acute pesticide poisonings in these countries are a small proportion of overall reported poisoning and are associated with the more minor effects of pesticides. They are a small proportion (<1-4%) of the several million cases of occupational injuries and ill health in agricultural workers worldwide. However, improvements are required for the collection of acute pesticide poisoning data in less developed countries and in the verification of the circumstances of poisonings and their relative severity. There is the need to move away from further attempts to estimate global data and concentrate instead on obtaining reliable data from realistic crop protection activities.
A method is presented in which inorganic nitrite and nitrate are determined automatically in blood. The dialysis unit in the automated system separates nitrite and nitrate from blood protein and thus eliminates any preliminary manual de-proteinisation procedure. The diazotisation and coupling reactions involving sulphanilic acid and N -( 1 -naphthyl) ethylenediamine form the basis of the method. Nitrate is reduced to nitrite by a zinc column incorporated into the system, and this feature enables a rapid change from nitrite to nitrate analysis and vice ~X Y S G C . The method is especially suitable for the analysis of a large number of samples. Recovery from blood is reproducible and almost 100 per cent. The limit of detection is 0-1 rug per ml for nitrite, and 0 . 2 p g per ml for nitrate, and less than 1.0ml of blood is needed for complete analysis. Range expansion can substantially increase the sensitivity if needed.
This paper contains a literature review of the occupational injuries and ill-health in agriculture world-wide and a survey of the attempts that have been made to estimate the resulting economic and social costs. Agricultural workers suffer a wide variety of disorders as a result of their occupation. These range from minor (cuts, bruises) to more severe (deep wounds, fractures), permanent (amputation, spinal cord injury) and fatal injury. Ill-health as a result of contact with animals, micro-organisms, plant material dusts or chemicals are associated with certain types of agriculture. There is an underlying but unquantified incidence of pain, stress and injury as a result of ergonomic problems due to poor working procedures and conditions. Statistics from many countries or regions show that agriculture consistently has one of the highest accident and injury rates of the industrial sectors. There are many causes for the work related injury and ill-health in agricultural workers. In developed countries, tractors and other machinery cause a significant proportion of the accidents and are a major cause of occupational deaths. In less developed countries, accidents due to hand tools such as hoes, sickles and cutting instruments are most prevalent. Animals are a significant cause of injury and ill-health in many countries. Debilitating allergic reactions in the respiratory tract or the skin are caused by exposures to organic dusts, or by contact with allergenic plants in the field respectively. Where comparative data are available, occupational pesticide poisoning in agriculture is a small proportion (< 1-4%) of the total work related disorders. Because of the wide variety of occupational risks to agricultural workers, it is emphasised that if one type of agricultural practice is replaced by another then the risks from the alternative procedure need to be considered. If, for example, agrochemical pest control practices are replaced by methods involving the increased use of machinery, draught animals or manual operations, then an assessment of the resulting risks should be taken into account. Some of the economic costs of occupational injury and ill-health in agriculture can be quantified directly, such as medical costs, the cost of rehabilitation and loss of earnings. Other costs are more difficult to estimate such as loss of opportunity and income foregone for permanent and fatal injury and for the effect on a victim's family. The estimation of the overall economic costs to farming communities and national agriculture requires further development. When one agricultural practice is replaced wholly or partly by another, for example agrochemical pest control by alternative control methods, then it is necessary to take into account the occupational health costs of the alternative procedure for realistic comparative assessment. There are a number of issues which require continued or increased attention by the relevant national and international authorities and by the agricultural industry. These include the improved collect...
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