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Such incidents are common in developing countries where regulations may be less strict, where there is insufficient capacity for enforcing regulations, or where farmers have insufficient access to training, application equipment and appropriate protective clothing.
It has
been estimated that 1 to 5 million agricultural workers suffer from pesticide
poisoning every year and this results in approximately 20,000 fatalities.
| According to the World Health Organisation in 2005 around 17,000 people
die a year in China from unintentional exposure to pesticides. |
|
About
99% of these deaths occur in developing countries even though these countries
consume an estimated 25% of the world’s production of pesticides.
The actual
number of pesticide poisonings may be higher than the figures suggest because
many incidents go unreported.
According to the World Health Organisation in 2005 around 17,000 people die a year in China from unintentional exposure to pesticides.
That includes farm workers, people living near farms, and the general public eating contaminated vegetables.
A study carried out
by the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy in Zheijiang province found that
farmers were over-using pesticides on rice by more than 40% and came to the
conclusion that the health costs of misuse could well be greater than the
farmers total pesticides bills.
The situation is similar for fruits and
vegetables, which often contain levels of banned organophosphate and carbamate
insecticides exceeding the state limits.
