www.thelancet.com Published online August 11, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32207-9 1 With a view to reducing pesticide self-poisoning in Sri Lanka, Melissa Pearson and colleagues did one of the largest community-based cluster-randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness of household lockable pesticide storage, reported in The Lancet. The effort is admirable, but unfortunate...

BACKGROUND Previous studies stating a high prevalence of occupational acute pesticide poisoning in developing countries have mainly relied on measurements of the rather non-specific self-reported acute pesticide poisoning symptoms. Only a few studies have measured the biomarker plasma cholinesterase (PchE) activity, in addition to the symptoms, when assessing occupational acute pesticide poison...

BACKGROUND Self-poisoning is one of the most common methods of suicide worldwide. The intentional ingestion of pesticides is the main contributor to such deaths and in many parts of rural Asia pesticide self-poisoning is a major public health problem. To inform the development of preventive measures in these settings, this study investigates small-area variation in self-poisoning incidence and ...

This study provides the first evidence of a direct link between the adoption of a genetically modified (GM) crop and improvements in human health. Estimation of the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton adoption on pesticide use from data from a survey of cotton farmers in northern China, 1999-2001, showed that Bt cotton adoption reduced pesticide use. Assessment of a health-production f...

BACKGROUND The use of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity testing in pesticide poisoning often falls on family physicians when evaluating a suspected poisoning or when monitoring the health of pesticide applicators. METHODS A review of the literature and consideration of three illustrative cases shows misunderstandings in the pathophysiology of the enzyme and in procedures for effective test...

Objectives: To analyze the occurrence, trends, and patterns of hospital treated pesticide poisonings in Germany Methods: Data from the German diagnoses statistics of hospital discharges are analyzed for the years 2000-2014. ICD code specific numbers of cases as well as rates per one million and case-fatality ratios are calculated. The number of fatal pesticides poisonings is compared to the off...

This paper investigates the determinants of pesticide-related cost of illness (COI) and acute symptoms, using a balanced panel of 363 farmers interviewed from seven major vegetable producing districts of Kenya. Finding shows that the incidences of pesticide-related health impairments have increased. Variation in number of symptoms and symptom severity significantly explained COI. The personal p...

Allethrin, present in mosquito coil is a pyrethroid pesticide. Pyrethroids are used as insecticides worldwide. Self poisoning with mosquito coil is very rare. We describe a case of attempted suicide by consumption of mosquito coil. Patient recovered without any sequel.