Aquatic Pollution and Coastal Management

Unit 4 : Pesticide pollution

4.8.Human Health Effects of Pesticides
Human health effects are caused by:

• Skin contact: handling of pesticide products
• Inhalation: breathing of dust or spray
• Ingestion: pesticides consumed as a contaminant on/in food or in water.

Farm workers have special risks associated with inhalation and skin contact during the preparation and application of pesticides to crops. However, for the majority of the population, a principal vector is through ingestion of food that is contaminated by pesticides. The degradation of water quality by pesticides runoff has principal human health impacts. The consumption of fish and shellfish that are contaminated by pesticides, this can be a particular problem for subsistence fish economies that lie downstream of major agricultural areas.

Effects of pesticide