The global distribution of fatal pesticide self-poisoning: Systematic review
By D. Gunnell, Michael Eddleston, M. Phillips, F. Konradsen. BMC Public Health, 2007
919 citations recorded by the source corpus.
BackgroundEvidence is accumulating that pesticide self-poisoning is one of the most commonly used methods of suicide worldwide, but the magnitude of the problem and the global distribution of these deaths is unknown.MethodsWe have systematically reviewed the worldwide literature to estimate the number of pesticide suicides in each of the World Health Organisation's six regions and the global burden of fatal self-poisoning with pesticides. We used the following data sources: Medline, EMBASE and psycINFO (1990–2007), papers cited in publications retrieved, the worldwide web (using Google) and our personal collections of papers and books. Our aim was to identify papers enabling us to estimate the proportion of a country's suicides due to pesticide self-poisoning.ResultsWe conservatively estimate that there are 258,234 (plausible range 233,997 to 325,907) deaths from pesticide self-poisoning worldwide each year, accounting for 30% (range 27% to 37%) of suicides globally. Official data from India probably underestimate the incidence of suicides; applying evidence-based corrections to India's official data, our estimate for world suicides using pesticides increases to 371,594 (range 347,357 to 439,267). The proportion of all suicides using pesticides varies from 4% in the European Region to over 50% in the Western Pacific Region but this proportion is not concordant with the volume of pesticides sold in each region; it is the pattern of pesticide use and the toxicity of the products, not the quantity used, that influences the likelihood they will be used in acts of fatal self-harm.ConclusionPesticide self-poisoning accounts for about one-third of the world's suicides. Epidemiological and toxicological data suggest that many of these deaths might be prevented if (a) the use of pesticides most toxic to humans was restricted, (b) pesticides could be safely stored in rural communities, and (c) the accessibility and quality of care for poisoning could be improved.
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/271c779de79e54accb8c6e95337b8fc03e9806bd
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
- P. Nicolopoulou‐Stamati
- G. Berg
- P. Stamatis
- L. Hens
- S. Maipas
- Chrysanthi Kotampasi
- J. Lugtenberg
- A. Adesemoye
Citations in the corpus
- Chemical Pesticides and Human Health: The Urgent Need for a New Concept in Agriculture (2016, background): “Furthermore, high occupational, accidental, or intentional exposure to pesticides can result in hospitalization and death (1, 31).”
- Plant–microbe interactions promoting plant growth and health: perspectives for controlled use of microorganisms in agriculture (2009, background): “, the improper use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, create a long list of environmental and health problems (Gunnell et al. 2007; Leach and Mumford 2008).”