Reshma Harikumar, Jayalakshmi Rajeev
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periye, Kasaragod, Kerala, India.
Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2020 Sep-Dec;24(3):188-193. doi: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_72_19. Epub 2020 Dec 14.
Pesticide poisoning is a burning occupational health issue across the world. The pesticide use in the cardamom plantations of Idukki district, Kerala, India is one of the world's highest. However, limited studies addressed its ill effects on the health of pesticide applicators.
To assess the magnitude of acute pesticide poisoning (APP) among pesticide applicators and understand the nature of severity based on their occupational characteristics.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. A total of 300 pesticide applicators with minimum 1-year experience (79.3% males) were selected from 30 randomly selected cardamom plantations in Udumbanchola Taluk.
WHO Field Surveys of Exposure to Pesticides Standard Protocol and Murphy's method of Farmer Self-Surveillance system of pesticide poisoning were used for assessing pesticide exposure and APP, respectively. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive (frequencies) and exploratory statistical analyses (Pearson's Chi-square test) were done using IBM SPSS 23.0.
The prevalence of APP in this study was 100% as all the pesticide applicators reported at least one sign and/or symptom of APP. The mild APP was more prevalent (80.7%), followed by moderate (18.7) and severe (0.60). Decrease in duration and frequency of spraying, use of motor pump sprayer, safe storage and disposal of pesticides, and proper personal hygiene were found to reduce the severity of APP.
All the pesticide applicators in cardamom plantations of Idukki are at risk of APP. It is important to train them about the measures to prevent the same.
农药中毒是全球一个亟待解决的职业健康问题。印度喀拉拉邦伊杜基区豆蔻种植园的农药使用量是世界上最高的之一。然而，针对其对农药施用者健康的不良影响的研究有限。
评估农药施用者中急性农药中毒（APP）的严重程度，并根据其职业特征了解严重程度的性质。
2018年进行了一项描述性横断面研究。从乌敦班乔拉乡30个随机选取的豆蔻种植园中，选取了300名至少有1年经验的农药施用者（79.3%为男性）。
分别采用世界卫生组织农药接触现场调查标准协议和墨菲农民农药中毒自我监测系统方法评估农药接触情况和急性农药中毒情况。统计分析使用：描述性（频率）和探索性统计分析（Pearson卡方检验），使用IBM SPSS 23.0完成。
本研究中急性农药中毒的患病率为100%，因为所有农药施用者都报告了至少一种急性农药中毒的体征和/或症状。轻度急性农药中毒更为普遍（80.7%），其次是中度（18.7%）和重度（0.60%）。发现减少喷洒时间和频率、使用机动喷雾器、安全储存和处置农药以及保持适当的个人卫生可降低急性农药中毒的严重程度。
伊杜基豆蔻种植园的所有农药施用者都有急性农药中毒的风险。对他们进行预防措施的培训很重要。
