Pesticide handling practices and health risks among the apple orchard workers in Western Indian Himalayan region

Knowledge on Pesticide Handling Practices and Factors Affecting Adoption of Personal Protective Equipment: A Case of Farmers from Nepal

“…After pesticide spraying, 60.9% of the respondents felt difficulty, 13.2% did not feel any difficulty, and 25.9% of the respondents were confused regarding health effects. Health effects recorded from the study are allergy on the skin, headache, difficulty in respiration, vomiting, and itching after pesticide spraying, which were similar to those reported in [14]. Zhang et al [3] reported that due to pesticide use in fields, workers suffered from on-field pesticide poisoning in southern China and the health effects recorded were almost similar to our study, but much more serious health effects were also reported in [3].…”

“…Zhang et al [3] reported that due to pesticide use in fields, workers suffered from on-field pesticide poisoning in southern China and the health effects recorded were almost similar to our study, but much more serious health effects were also reported in [3]. us, lack of awareness in handling, spraying, and disposal and storage of pesticides could lead to adverse health effects in human beings [14]. Due to ignorance on safe handling of pesticide, directly the users and indirectly the nonusers are exposed to health effects; sometimes, the problem becomes more severe [6].…”

“…Farmers' knowledge of the safe use of pesticides plays a crucial role in effective farm management. Improper handling and indiscriminate use of pesticides cause accidental poisoning and even acute or chronic health effects [13,14]. In long run, pesticide exposure can cause long-lasting health issues such as dermatosis, cancer, and genotoxic, neurotoxic, and respiratory effects [3,6,13,15].…”

Pesticide Application as a Risk Factor/Behaviour for Workers’ Health: A Systematic Review

“…The adoption of good practices suggested by occupational health and safety (OHS) and public health entities, including the use of personal protective measures, allows workers to significantly reduce their occupational exposure to various known or potentially hazardous agrochemicals, such as pesticides, and thus diminish the risks of health damage [2,11,[14][15][16]. In pesticide handling, these practices must be implemented throughout the process: in storage; during transport to/from farms; in mixture preparation, application, and after application; during re-entry into treated areas, and during disposal of waste and empty packaging.…”

“…On the other hand, the presence of pesticide residues in food is expected when plant protection products are applied. However, excessive and unsafe use of pesticides is perceived, for instance, when the established maximum residue limits (MRLs) for a pesticide/crop combination are exceeded, or when a variety of residues is found in the same food sample, suggesting the possibility of adverse mixture effects endangering workers' health and affecting food safety, the environment (negative indirect effects on soil, air, and water quality), and public health through the consumption of pesticide-contaminated food [1,2,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”