Biotech Week
Copyright 2006 Biotech Week via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net
Pesticide-related illness is common among emergency responders in the United States.
“Emergency responders are among the first to arrive at a pesticide-related release event. Magnitude, severity, and risk factor information on acute pesticide poisoning among those workers is needed,” noted researchers in the United States.
“Survey data collected from the SENSOR-Pesticides, CDPR, and HSEES programs between 1993 and 2002 from 21 states were reviewed,” said Geoffrey M. Calvert at the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and collaborators. “Acute occupational pesticide-related illness incidence rates for each category of emergency responder were calculated, as were incidence rate ratios (IRR) among emergency responders compared to all other workers employed in non-agricultural industries.”
“A total of 291 cases were identified,” the researchers reported. “Firefighters accounted for 111 cases (38%), law enforcement officers for 104 cases (36%), emergency medical technicians for 34 cases (12%), and 42 cases (14%) were unspecified emergency responders. Among the 200 cases with information on activity responsible for exposure, most were exposed while performing activities related to a pesticide release event (84%) and not involving patient care, while the remainder involved exposure to pesticide-contaminated patients.”
“A majority of cases were exposed to insecticides (51%). Most had low severity illnesses (90%). The incidence rate was highest for firefighters (39.1/million) and law enforcement officers (26.6/million). The IRRs were also elevated for these professions (firefighters, IRR=2.67; law enforcement officers, IRR=1.69),” the authors noted.
They concluded, “The findings suggest the need for greater efforts to prevent acute occupational pesticide-related illness among emergency responders.”
Calvert and his coauthors published their study in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine (Acute pesticide-related illness among emergency responders, 1993-2002. Am J Ind Med, 2006;49(5):383-393).
For additional information, contact Geoffrey M. Calvert, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4676 Columbia Parkway, R-17, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. E-mail: jac6@cdc.gov.