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Health Effects of Pesticide Use
Evidence from Bangladesh
Susmita Dasgupta
Craig Meisner
Development Research Group
World Bank
Pesticide consumption (metric tons)
Pesticide consumption (metric tons)
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Year
Source: Department of Plant Protection Wing, Bangladesh
Pesticide consumption has more than doubled in the past decade
Alarming Composition of Pesticides
A Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
analysis of active ingredients in use has revealed:
high shares of chemicals (e.g., carbamates and
organophosphates) with established
Epidemiological links with Non-Hodgkin‟s
lymphoma, leukemia, lung cancer, aplastic
anemia, fetal death, hormonal changes, DNA
damage, birth defects, and abnormal sperm,
ovaries and eggs.
Active Ingredients Used (sold) in the
Agricultural Sector, BangladeshConsumption (million tons) Year
Insecticides 1990 1991 1992 1994 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998
Carbamate Insecticides 170 182 202 - 210 250 270 290 300
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons 30 24 32 - 28 35 15 1 -
Organo-Phosphates 720 751 821 - 855 810 950 980 1,020
Pyrethroids 9 9 14 - 13 14 15 5 15
Other Insecticides 26 26 33 - 18 45 50 50 30
Total Insecticides 955 992 1102 - 1124 1154 1300 1326 1365
Herbicides
Bipiridils - - - - - 12 20 20 19
Phenoxy Hormone Products 9 10 10 - 6 32 30 30 28
Other Herbicides 26 25 23 - 27 22 13 13 15
Total Herbicides 35 35 33 - 33 66 63 63 62
Fungicides
Benzimidazoles - - 1 - 1 7 5 5 7
Diazines, Morpholines - - 1 - 1 5 4 4 2
Dithiocarbamates 130 125 131 - 120 132 155 170 320
Other Fungicides 4 5 3 - 6 6 5 5 23
Inorganics 142 130 175 - 200 320 375 410 350
Triazoles, Diazoles 276 260 1 - 1 5 6 4 6
Fungicide &Bacterial &Seed Treatment 276 260 312 - 329 475 550 598 708
Rodenticides
Anticoagulants - - 1 - 1 2 2 1 2
Other Rodenticides - - 5 - - 5 4 5 4
Total Rodenticides - - 6 - 1 7 6 6 6
A. Source: FAO
Need for Careful Assessment and
Planning
Current projections suggest that the agricultural output of
Bangladesh needs to grow several times during the next several
decades, as the population of Bangladesh continues to grow and
incomes increase.
Bangladesh, a densely populated country (997 people km2 in
2000), will have to increase yields from the land currently under
cultivation in order to serve this increased demand.
During the past several decades, rising agricultural productivity
has been driven by an increased utilization of capital and
chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers) and genetic alteration of crops.
The cited increase in the use of toxic chemicals warrant careful
assessment of the current situation and experimentation with
feasible alternative production systems, for example, Integrated
Pest Management/ and organic farming techniques.
Limited Secondary Data on Pesticides
The Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of
Agriculture maintains
1.Time series of yearly consumption of pesticides.
2. A list is complied every year to indicate which
pesticides (by active ingredient and company) have
been given permission to be sold in the market.
However, the popular belief is as large scale smuggling of
pesticide from neighboring countries takes place, both the
yearly consumption and list of permitted pesticides actually
understate the amount of pesticides being consumed as well as
the variety of pesticides available in the market.
Current Information on Health Effects
Historical information on the health effects of pesticide use in
Bangladesh is not available. Although the Director General of
Health Services (DGHS) maintains aggregate data on poisoning
related morbidity or death up to 1998-99, information by source
of poisoning (i.e. morbidity and mortality related to pesticides)
is not available.
A newly improved system of health-related information is being
introduced by the DGHS. The new system (information is
compiled on the basis of source of poisoning, e.g., poisoning
with organophosphates treated as a separate and distinct entry)
initially covered only two districts beginning in 2000-01:
Gazipur and Narsingdi. The new system is expected to
gradually extend its coverage to other districts as well over time.
World Bank
Research on
Pesticides
Crop composition of the survey
846
430
748
355311
149
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Boro Beans Eggplant Cabbage Potato Mango
Crop
Nu
mb
er o
f fa
rm
s
Pesticide Applications Reported by
Survey Respondents
One in five pesticides reported by survey respondents has
been classified by the WHO as “Extremely Hazardous”.
Number of pesticide applications by WHO classification
Classification Frequency Percent
Extremely hazardous 778 19.12
Moderately hazardous 2383 58.58
Slightly hazardous 305 7.50
Unclassified 602 14.80
Total 4068 100.00
Note: Based on 51 active ingredients and 161 formulations (commercial names)
Pesticide Applications Reported by
Survey Respondents
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs):
The survey cited 18 applications of Endrin and 40
applications of Heptachlor were cited in the survey.
DDT is still sold in the retail markets.
Number of pesticide applications by WHO classification
Classification Frequency Percent
Extremely hazardous 778 19.12
Moderately hazardous 2383 58.58
Slightly hazardous 305 7.50
Unclassified 602 14.80
Total 4068 100.00
Note: Based on 51 active ingredients and 161 formulations (commercial names)
Use of Protective Clothing
The study found that the use of protective clothing during mixing
and spraying of pesticides was not a common practice.
Farmers usually worked in the fields and sprayed pesticides bare
footed (only 1% reported wearing sandals);
2% wear gloves while spraying pesticides;
57% of the farming population cover their head with „gamchha‟
while working in the fields;
8% reportedly wear hats;
6% use locally available cotton masks (the cotton mask in use is,
essentially, an ordinary piece of cloth kept in place by strings made
of cloth; hence quite ineffective);
3% use eye glasses.
Health Effects
Acute:
mild headaches
flu-like symptoms
skin rashes
blurred vision
other neurological
disorders
Chronic:
cardiopulmonary
problems
neurological and
hematological
symptoms
adverse dermal
effects
Overall Health Effects found in the Survey
47% of the farmers and pesticide applicators in
the survey reported frequent health problems
such as irritation in their eyes, headaches,
dizziness, vomiting, shortness of breath, skin
effects, and even convulsions among others.
Overall Health Effects found in the Survey
47% of the farmers and pesticide applicators in the survey
reported frequent health problems such as irritation in their
eyes, headaches, dizziness, vomiting, shortness of breath,
skin effects, and even convulsions among others.
Among those (respondents) who experienced ailments 86%
were quite sure that their ailments were due to exposure to
pesticides.
The interviews further revealed that 28% of the respondents
experienced multiple health effects, with the maximum
number of ailments as five.
Specific Health Effects found in the Survey
Among the most perceptible health problems encountered in
the survey, eye effects, neurological effects (headache,
dizziness), dermal effects and gastrointestinal tract effects
(vomiting) were the most common.
Right after application of pesticides:
27% of the respondents reported irritation in the eyes
33% reported headache/ and dizziness
14% reported skin irritation
9% reported vomiting
Duration of Reported Ailments
0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0
24
0.5
5.1 5.87.96.14.3 4.7
727296 360168
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Eye
Irritation
Headache Dizziness Vomiting Shortness
of breath
Skin
Irritation
Len
gth
of
sick
nes
s (d
ays)
Minimum Mean Maximum
Safer Alternative: Integrated Pest
Management (IPM)
In contrast to the 47% among the general
pesticide-using population only 31% of the
IPM farmers reported health problems such as
irritation in their eyes, headaches, dizziness,
vomiting, shortness of breath and skin effects.
Statistical analysis confirmed the difference in
health effects is significant.
Is Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture
Less Profitable for Farmers?
Evidence on Integrated Pest Management
Adoption of IPM
Education, prior training, experience, ownership and poor health have significant positive effect on IPM adoption probability.
IPM Techniques in Practice :
Manual removal of pests (70% of the sample),
Use of natural parasites and predators (58%),
Light traps (14%),
Crop rotation (10%)
Smoke (5%).
Comparative Input-Use, Yield, Profitability,
Soil and Environmental Effects
Input-use accounting, conventional production functions and frontier production estimation suggested:
1. The productivity of IPM rice farming is not significantly different from the productivity of conventional farming.
2. Since IPM reduces pesticide costs with no countervailing loss in production, it appears to be more profitable than conventional rice farming.
3. Our interview results also suggest substantial health and ecological benefits.