Pesticide Exposure And Health Risks In Mali

Abstract

Introduction: Acute pesticide poisoning is a major preventable public health problem, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study is to describe the main characteristics of acute poisoning with pesticide in Mali. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of acute pesticide poisoning cases, recorded between 2000 and 2010, in the medical records and the consultation registers at 15 hospitals in Mali. Results: There were 124 cases of acute pesticide poisoning, aged 5 days to 68 years in Mali, which was 4.1% of all poisoning cases reported during the study period. Of these, 33% were under the age of 15 years. More than 60% of the cases were males with a male-female ratio of 1.5. The average age of the patients was 22±17 years. Nearly 89% of reported cases resulted from oral exposure, 10.5% from inhalation and only 0.8% from dermal exposure. The risk was mainly related to the use of organophosphates. Pesticides were used as a means of suicide in 17.7% of cases. The poisoning symptoms were varied, depending on the characteristics of the product, duration and frequency of exposure and the delay before treatment. The average length of stay in hospital was 22 hours, with a range of 2 hours to 7 days. Among all diagnosed cases, 8.1% of them died. For other cases, the outcome was favorable with or without sequelae. Conclusions: Many situations involving pesticide exposure are linked to education and certain socio-economic conditions. These conditions tend to occur more often in developing countries. Preventive measures should be taken to rationalize pesticide use.