Mood Disorders Hospitalizations, Suicide Attempts, and Suicide Mortality Among Agricultural Workers and Residents in an Area With Intensive Use of Pesticides in Brazil

Abstract

As suicide rates have increased in rural areas in Brazil, it was postulated that pesticide exposure may play a role in this phenomenon. Our study compared the suicide mortality rates observed among agricultural workers from a pesticide-intensive area in Brazil to the suicide mortality frequency noted in three reference populations. In addition, hospitalization rates attributed to suicide attempts and mood disorders including depression in residents of the same agricultural area were compared to two reference populations. Finally, data on pesticide sales per agricultural worker were obtained for each city of Rio de Janeiro State and suicide mortality risk was then calculated according to the quartiles of pesticide sales per agricultural workers, using the first quartile as reference. Agricultural workers were at greater risk for lethality due to suicide when compared to all three reference populations. In addition, residents of the same study area showed higher hospitalization rates by suicide attempts and mood disorders than observed in comparison populations. Results also showed that the risk of death by suicide was significantly higher among agricultural workers who lived in areas of Rio de Janeiro State displaying higher rates of pesticide expenditure per agricultural worker. These results suggest that pesticide exposure may indeed increase the risk of suicide frequency, especially among agricultural workers.

Increased Beck Depression Inventory Score among Coffee Growers Pesticide Applicators

“…Faria et al described that pesticide poisoning was strongly associated with minor psychiatric disorders, emphasizing the dimension of the problem and the importance of adopting new policies for the protection of farm workers' mental health [15]. Concrete evidences show higher numbers of hospitalization due to mood disorder and suicide attempt among residents in areas with higher use of pesticide [16]. On the other hand, controversies can be observed in these kinds of studies because of hard physical labor, excessive stress and mental suffering intrinsic to the labor in the countryside as consequences of losses in production for example [17,18].…”

Caracterização de tentativas de suicídios por substâncias exógenas

“…O autoextermínio está entre as três principais causas de morte entre adolescentes e adultos jovens, e, cada vez que ele ocorre, em média, cinco ou seis pessoas próximas a vítima são afetadas emocional, social e economicamente 2 , constituindo um importante problema de saúde pública, reportado em diversos estudos [2][3][4][5][6] com ênfase no suicídio. No entanto, não há, em nenhum país, um registro de abrangência nacional de tentativa de suicídio.…”

Mortalidad debida a intoxicación por plaguicidas en Colombia entre 1998 y 2011

“…De todas maneras, estos periodos coinciden con las épocas en las que se tiene fácil acceso a los plaguicidas, lo que pudo propiciar actos impulsivos resultantes en la intoxicación autoinfligida intencionalmente por la ingestión de estas sustancias. En algunos estudios se ha señalado que existe un mayor riesgo de problemas mentales, principalmente la depresión, en personas que han estado expuestas a plaguicidas (36,(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54), lo que favorecería conductas tendientes al suicidio por su ingestión. Estas conductas se ven favorecidas por la asequibilidad de los plaguicidas en los países en desarrollo, especialmente en las áreas rurales en donde son de uso común, lo que, de cierta manera, facilita su consumo en los periodos de crisis en la vida cotidiana (55,56), sobreviniendo la muerte debido a la gran letalidad asociada con su ingestión (57).…”