Human Health Risks: Impact of Pesticide ApplicationHuman Health Risks: Impact of Pesticide Application

Abstract

This article reviews the application of pesticides in Gaza Strip, Palestine and discusses its associated  health risks. This study is based on data collection and analysis.

Data showed that large quantities of pesticides are used in Gaza Strip and the quantities are increased annually. Analyzing the data indicates that large numbers of pesticides are used for controlling different types of pests. Some pesticides are restricted by law but are available in the local market. Classification of pesticides according to its biological activity indicates that insecticides are the largest uses among other pesticides. Reviewing the acute poisonous cases in health records indicates that the reported acute toxic cases were among local farmers in Gaza and the number of acute toxic cases increased annually indicating direct health risks associated with pesticide use. In addition, the increased number of congenital malformation among the newborns indicates indirect health risks. Moreover, the number of cancer cases in Khan Younis governorate indicates a positive association with pesticide use. Classification of pesticides according to WHO standards identified extreme toxic pesticides (e.g parathion), highly toxic (dichlorvos), moderately toxic (malathion) and less toxic ones. These Pesticides have a wide range of octanol-water partitioning coefficient (K_ow, log P) values (-0.8 - 6.6), which results in a variety of storage and transport patterns in human bodies. They may move from the storage sites (e.g fat bodies) via partitioning to other parts of the human body. A pesticide with high K_ow log P value (hydrophobic) such as Fenvalerate can be stored in fat containing particles and be released in milk secretion exposing fetus, mother, and infants to health risks. A satisfactory solution to these problems is the implementation of restriction measures and the performance of frequent pesticide residue analysis of food samples.

Key words: Contamination, health risk, toxicology, log K_ow value.