Use of Pesticides and Health Risk among Farmers in Sunsari District, Nepal

  • Rajendra Lamichhane Department of Public Health, Asian College for Advance Studies, Satdobato, Lalitpur, Nepal
  • Nishant Lama Department of Public Health, Little Buddha College of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal,
  • Sangam Subedi Health and Allied Sciences, Pokhara University, Nepal,
  • Suman Bahadur Singh School of Public Health, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Sunsari, Nepal.
  • Ram Bilakshan Sah School of Public Health, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Sunsari, Nepal.
  • Birendra Kumar Yadav School of Public Health, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Sunsari, Nepal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v17i01.1204

Abstract

Background: An increasing widespread use of Pesticides is as an issue in the agricultural sector. Pesticides use is one of the occupational risks in farmers of low-income countries including Nepal. Objective of this study was to explore the health effects of Pesticides among agricultural farmers of Sunsari.
Methods: A community based cross sectional study was carried out in Duhabi-Bhaluwa of Sunsari District, Nepal from September 2015 to February 2016. Non-probability sampling technique was used to enroll the total 300 study participants. Data were collected by face to face interview with farmers using pre-tested semi structured questionnaire. Data were recorded by reading the original container of the Pesticides.
Results: Fungicides (60.3%), Herbicides (56.3%), pyrethrum (35.3%) and Organophophate (11.6%) Pesticides were commonly used by the agricultural farmers in their farms. The health problem within 48 hours after application of pesticides was reported by more than one-sixth (17%) of the farmers. Dizziness (74.5%) and headache (58.8%) were the most common health problems found among the farmers. Skin irritation (19.6%), nausea (13.7%), paraesthesia (9.8%), restlessness (5.8%), eye irritation (5.8%) and vomiting (1.9%) were also reported by pesticides handlers. Factors associated with health problems were hazardous pesticides use (AOR=26.95, CI 6.15 - 118.0), good knowledge on impacts of pesticides (AOR=3.16, CI 1.09-9.13), determination of wind direction first and spray (AOR=2.25, CI 1.08-4.67), working experience of 20-29 years on farm (AOR=3.38, CI 1.05-10.83). Conclusions: One-sixth of the farmers reported health problems. Farmers working with hazardous Pesticides were in need of special attention in terms of safe handling, determing the wind direction and spray.
Keywords: Farmer; health hazardious; health risk; pesticides use.

Published
2019-04-28
How to Cite
LamichhaneR., LamaN., SubediS., SinghS. B., SahR. B., & YadavB. K. (2019). Use of Pesticides and Health Risk among Farmers in Sunsari District, Nepal. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 17(01), 66-70. https://doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v17i01.1204
Issue
Vol. 17 No. 01 (2019): JNHRC Vol. 17 No. 1 Issue 42 Jan - Mar 2019
Section
Original Article

Copyright (c) 2019 Rajendra Lamichhane, Nishant Lama, Sangam Subedi, Suman Bahadur Singh, Ram Bilakshan Sah, Birendra Kumar Yadav

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Journal of Nepal Health Research Council JNHRC allows to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose. Copyright is retained by author. The JNHRC work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).