BACKGROUND: Pesticides are used to prevent, destroy or mitigate pests such as insects, small animals, fungi and weeds. Pesticide exposure can occur in homes, school, or in the workplace or hospital. Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of human health conditions ranging from short-term illnesses such as headaches and nausea to chronic diseases like cancer, reproductive damage and endocrine disruption. Anyone experiencing a poison emergency or in need of information about a substance or commercial product may call PCC 24-hours a day, every day of the year. Calls to PCC are managed by medical experts trained in poison prevention and treatment. Analysis of the call data on pesticide exposures helps in focusing efforts on pesticide poisoning preventive measures through better education and outreach efforts.
METHODS: Call data from the PCC for the period of 2011-2015 were analyzed for percentages and rates (unadjusted) of pesticide exposures. U.S. Census Bureau population estimates were used to calculate the rates of pesticide exposure calls per 100,000 people.
RESULTS: Between the years 2011-2015, a total of 11,989 calls related to known or possible exposure to pesticides were received in Pennsylvania including 82 calls related to malicious exposure. The major route of exposure was ingestion (58.6%). In 52.1 % of the calls the concerned individuals were females and in 47.6 % the concerned individuals were males. Forty one records did not have information about sex. Among the calls, 4 (0.03%) had major health effects, 158 (1.3%) had moderate health effects and 1,236 (10.3%) had minor health effects associated with them. The concerned individuals were females in 99 out of 162 calls with major/moderate health effects. Most of the calls (56.4%) pertained to children <18 years old and 39.0% were concerning adults. The corresponding rates were 49.8 and 8.8 respectively. Some records (n=542) did not have information on age. Insecticides accounted for more than half of the calls (63.9%), followed by rodenticides (14.6%), repellents (13.4%), herbicides (6.8%) and fungicides (0.9%). Forty eight records did not have information about types of pesticides. Among types of exposure sites, the highest number of exposure (91.8%) occurred at one’s own residence.
CONCLUSIONS: Results indicted a higher number of calls for exposure in children and the majority of the exposures occurred at residences, indicating the need to strengthen outreach efforts to educate the public in safe use of pesticides.