Acutely Toxic Pesticides

Dow AgroSciences, as a member of CropLife International, fully recognizes that the safe management of pesticides represents a significant challenge in Developing Countries and Economies in Transition (DC/EITs), and supports CropLife initiatives that are committed to encouraging the responsible use of pesticides.

CropLife International is engaged in practical programs to reduce risks linked to pesticides and to educate farmers how to safely use pesticides. To date, programs supported by CropLife International have trained more than 2.5 million farmers and members of their communities in over 80 countries in the safe and effective use of pesticides. The plant science industry recognizes the need to increase the effectiveness of these programs and will continue to work in partnership with relevant stakeholders to achieve this goal.

The occurrence of Acute Pesticide Poisonings (APP) in DC/EITs is a complex issue and must be examined from a broad range of perspectives. Many farmers in these countries are very poor and their businesses suffer from low commodity prices. Their socio-economic conditions result in the use of the most cost effective tools available. These include the use of toxic products, which are mostly out of patent and produced by local manufacturers.

CropLife International is a member of the Acutely Toxic Pesticides Working Group of the International Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) commissioned by Forum III to provide input on the extent of the problem of acutely toxic pesticides in DC/EITs and provide guidance for sound risk assessment, management and risk reduction. The IFCS was created in 1994 to integrate and consolidate international efforts to manage chemical safety. The IFCS is represented with 155 governments, intergovernmental, non-governmental organizations as well and industry and private sector representatives.

A clear distinction has to be made between incidents of severe or fatal occupational poisonings and less serious poisoning incidents. CropLife International concurs with the findings of the IFCS Working Group that mild overexposure symptoms are principally a result of poor occupational hygiene practices including inadequate laundering of work clothes and poor personal hygiene such as not washing hands after use and before eating. Occupational practices are best addressed by stepping up education campaigns, such as those currently coordinated by CropLife Associations in cooperation with many stakeholders in rural communities around the world, rather than through legislation.

The more serious cases of occupational pesticide poisoning and community poisoning, which were the focus of the Working Group’s attention, clearly require more careful analysis separate from cases of intentional poisonings. It can be concluded that serious occupational and accidental cases of pesticide poisoning are extremely rare, especially so in perspective to the more than one billion pesticide applications that are estimated to occur annually in DC/EITs. Sadly, the reality is that the majority of severe or fatal poisoning cases appear to be the results of suicide. This raises social questions that are far beyond the influence of the industry.

Given the complex nature of inadvertent pesticide exposure, preventive strategies will vary according to the needs of particular DC/EITs and communities but clearly there is a need to strengthen awareness of proper hygiene practices amongst all user groups.

For more complete review of the CropLife Position, please review their Position Paper (181KB PDF) or visit their website.

For further information on IFCS visit their website.