Donald
C. Cole, Rob McConnell, Douglas L. Murray, Feliciano Pacheco
Anton
NIOSH Education and Information Division
AUTHOR
ABSTRACT
In 1984,
work designed to expand cholinesterase screening activities
and improve the reporting of pesticide poisonings was initiated
in Nicaragua's Leon-Chinandega region as a pilot project.
Using
a field tintometric method, 1,960 workers were screened for
whole blood cholinesterase. The percentage with low cholinesterase
activity levels (50% or less) increased sharply during the
peak spraying season. Airfield workers were most affected,
though a noteworthy share of certain agricultural workers
were also found to have low levels. Workers who used certain
kinds of personal protective equipment were significantly
less affected (p < .05)
In addition
to these survey findings, six deaths and 396 pesticide- related
poisonings were reported in the Leon-Chinandega region in
1984. This indicated a relatively high rate of 74.6 poisoning
cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 84% of them occurring in October-December.
Ninety-four percent of the cases reported via questionnaires
were occupationally related, small farms being the most affected.
Methyl parathion was implicated in roughly half of these cases,
two-thirds of which were due to de mal exposure.
Policy
recommendations derived from the initial results reported
here include reduction of methyl parathion use, installation
of closed systems for safer aircraft loading, provision and
use of clothing that protects the skin against exposure, and
restriction of pesticide work by minors.
JOURNAL AND
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE ID#
JOURNAL:
Bull Pan Am Health Organ. 1988; 22(2): 119-132.
Note:
Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization.
NLOM ID#:
No ID #.
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and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
document was extracted from the CDC-NIOSH Epidemiology of
Farm Related Injuries: Bibliography With Abstracts, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service,
Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
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