Pesticides and Health: A Review of Evidence on Health Effects, Valuation of Risks, and Benefit-Cost Analysis

Tago, Damian; Andersson, Henrik; Treich, Nicolas

doi:10.1108/s0731-219920140000024006

Cited by 69 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 239 publications

(98 reference statements)

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“…The estimated average effect that we obtain for the exposure to pesticides in Ecuador is greater than the 30 grams found by Bozzoli and Quintana-Domeque (2014) for the effects of the collapse of the economy in Argentina in 2000-05, and also greater than the 23 grams found by Rangel and Vogl (2019) for the effect of sugar cane harvesting in Brazil. However, it is close to the 200-grams effect found for mothers that smoke (Kramer, 1987;Lindbohm et al, 2002) and to the 30-200 grams found in recent medical and environmental studies on the use of pesticides in agriculture (Rauch et al 2012;Gemmil et al, 2013;Tago et al, 2014;Larsen et al, 2017;and Mostafalou and Abdollahi, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

The Hidden Cost of Bananas: Pesticide Effects on Newborns’ Health

Calzada

Gisbert

2021

SSRN Journal

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We study the effects of aerial fumigation of banana plantations on newborns' birth weight during the period 2015-2017 in Ecuador. We use mothers' addresses and information on the perimeter of the plantations to create an individual measure of newborns' exposure to pesticides. We use this measure to implement three independent identification strategies to address the endogeneity of exposure to aerial fumigations. First, we consider a difference-indifferences strategy that exploits seasonal variations in the use of pesticides across provinces.Second, we estimate a difference-in-differences model that considers geographical variations in the use of pesticides across comparable crops. Third, and finally, we estimate a maternal fixed effects model to examine the effect of pesticides on siblings who had a different residence during gestation and who were exposed to different levels of fumigations. Our first empirical model shows that newborns exposed to pesticides, when their first gestational trimester coincides with the periods of intensive fumigations of the plantations, have a birth weight reduction of between 38 and 89 grams. Moreover, exposure to pesticides increases the likelihood of low birth weight and low Apgar score at the first minute by around 0.35 and 0.33, respectively. The second model finds that newborns exposed to fumigated banana plantations have a birth weight deficit of between 29 and 76 grams, when compared to those exposed to other fumigated crops. Finally, the maternal fixed effect model shows that girl newborns exposed to pesticides have a birth weight deficit of 346 grams when compared to non-exposed siblings.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

The Hidden Cost of Bananas: Pesticide Effects on Newborns’ Health

Calzada

Gisbert

2021

SSRN Journal

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“… 1 Among smallholder farms (farms with <2 ha), 2 pesticides are the dominant form of pest management. 3 These chemicals can have a negative impact on the environment 4 , 5 and human health, 6 , 7 particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) 8 , 9 and when used unintentionally. 10 LMICs often lack pesticide use regulations or implementation thereof, and have limited resources available to deal with the environmental and health consequences of pesticide use, such as access to a functioning health system or monitoring of water quality in open water bodies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis of Pesticide Use Determinants Among Smallholder Farmers From Costa Rica and Uganda

Staudacher

Fuhrimann

Farnham

et al. 2020

Environ�Health�Insights

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Pesticides are used globally in agriculture and pose a threat to the health of farmers, communities, and the environment. Smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries have generally a low socio-economic status and educational level. Consequently, they are particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of pesticides on their health, yields, or land. In a Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices study, we compared the pest management practices between a market-oriented farming system in Zarcero County, Costa Rica, and a subsistence-based farming system in Wakiso District, Uganda. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among smallholder farmers from Costa Rica (n = 300) in 2016 and from Uganda (n = 302) in 2017. We enrolled conventional and organic farmers, but also farmers with mixed practices and non-applicators of any pest management strategy. We found that the majority of pesticides used in both case studies are classified as highly hazardous by the World Health Organization. While more than 90% of smallholder farmers from both countries were aware of the negative health effects of pesticide exposure, <11% in Costa Rica and <2% in Uganda reported using personal protective equipment every time they handled or applied pesticides. Hygiene and other safe use practices were not adopted by all farmers (<61%), especially among farmers applying more hazardous pesticides. Conventional farmers from Costa Rica (14%) and Uganda (19%) reported disposing pesticide residuals into rivers. Using a logistic regression we found that organic farmers were more likely to having been trained on safe pesticide use practices. Using a robust regression, we observed that smallholder household income was primarily driven by education and not directly by the use of synthetic pesticides. Our results suggest that negative effects of pesticides can be managed over the whole life cycle, from purchase, via storage and application to residual and waste management by fostering professionalization of farmers. We advise future safe use and handling interventions to consider the pesticide use-related socioeconomic and demographic findings highlighted in this paper.

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“…Denoting ≡ L/N > 1, we obtain c A = ( − 1)(1 − b)/b, and the land rent is positive if > 1/(1 − b), i.e., if the population is sufficiently large, a condition assumed to hold in the following: 20 The disutility term hZ encompasses impacts due to exposure to pesticides, which includes environmental impacts as well as impacts on human health through direct (farmers) or indirect (rural populations) exposure. These latter impacts are well known and appear to be the largest (Tago et al, 2014). We do not consider health impacts on consumers through pesticide residues in food that are much smaller and less documented (Winter and Davis, 2006).…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Trade and Biodiversity Effects

Bellora

Bourgeon

2019

Int Economic Review

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Pests create biodiversity effects that increase food production risks and decrease productivity when agricultural production is specialized. Pesticides contain these effects, but damage the environment and human health. When opening to trade, governments are tempted to restrict pesticide use because, with more food being imported, less pesticide is needed for domestic consumption. However, pesticide restrictions hinder the competitiveness of their agricultural sector on international markets. We show that restrictions on pesticides are more stringent under free trade than under autarky, which reduces the gains from trade, and that trade increases food price volatility.

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Pesticides and Health: A Review of Evidence on Health Effects, Valuation of Risks, and Benefit-Cost Analysis

Cited by 69 publications

References 239 publications

The Hidden Cost of Bananas: Pesticide Effects on Newborns’ Health

The Hidden Cost of Bananas: Pesticide Effects on Newborns’ Health

Comparative Analysis of Pesticide Use Determinants Among Smallholder Farmers From Costa Rica and Uganda

Food Trade and Biodiversity Effects

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