Pesticides and Their Effects on Worker Health

There are more than 1000 types of pesticides used worldwide, especially in agriculture, as well as in homes, offices, landscaping and gardens. The use of pesticides is inevitable in obtaining sufficient and healthy products from agriculture for nutrition in life sustaining. In people exposed to pesticides; Acute and chronic harmful effects are observed depending on the type of pesticide used, the dose used and the duration of use. It has been shown that chronic exposure can cause diseases such as diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, asthma, and cancer. Necessary precautions should be taken when using pesticides to eliminate or reduce their harm to human health. Reducing pesticide use is the responsibility of both the producer, the consumer and the state. To protect workers from pesticides, appropriate measures should be taken according to risk assessment at each stage. In order to eliminate the risk in the workplace environment, it should be replaced with another substance if possible, and if not, exposure should be reduced by using the necessary prevention and protection methods. Since pesticide use is widespread in our country, we wanted to examine its effects on human health in the light of the literature.

Keywords: Agricultural worker, exposure, pesticide, protection