Context: According to a new research, pesticides are the leading cause of poisoning in India, with two in every three cases of poisoning happening because of pesticide consumption either intentionally or unintentionally.

• Thousands of farmers and farm labourers die every year due to unsafe use of hazardous pesticides.

Key Points

• It was titled Toxic Epidemiology of poisoning exhibited in Indian population from 2010 to 2020: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
• It revealed that pesticides were the main case of poisoning, with an overall prevalence of 63 percent due to widespread use of pesticides for agricultural and household activities.
• According to the study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the prevalence of pesticide poisoning in the adult population was 65 percent and 22 percent in children.

Worldwide variations

• Pesticides remain the leading cause of poisoning in south Asian countries including India and in southeast Asia and China.

Region wise Distribution

• Highest in north India at 79 per cent (more than three-fourths of the total cases of poisoning).
• South India (65.9 per cent)
• Central India (59.2 per cent)
• West India (53.1 per cent)
• Northeast India (46.9 per cent)
• East India (38.5 per cent).

Reasons for Poisoning

• The pesticides remain the leading cause of poisoning in south Asian countries including India and in southeast Asia and China.
• The second most common cause of poisoning was miscellaneous agents, followed by drugs, venoms and corrosives.
• The reasons for pesticide poisoning were the co-existence of poverty and agricultural farming and thus, the easy availability of pesticides.

Associated Issues 

• Unabated use: The issues regarding the unabated use of pesticides in India and how they still continue to be a great threat to human health. 
• Unsafe Use: Thousands of farmers and farm labourers die every year due to unsafe use of hazardous pesticides.
• Deaths due to consumption: Deaths of farmers and the general public across Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Bihar among other states in the last few years due to pesticide consumption have highlighted the need to regulate their use.
• Suicides: Easy access to pesticides has also led its consumption becoming the leading cause of suicides worldwide.

Measures taken/can be taken

• The World Health Organization and its member countries initiated a programme of safe access of pesticides, which has resulted in a decrease in the prevalence of fatal poisoning by 10 per cent across the world.
• Strict restriction of highly lethal pesticides by legal mechanisms or policy actions could drastically reduce deaths.