Study on adverse effects of Insecticides and

Pesticides in human health

A report submitted
For practical fulfillment of practical examination class XI in
Chemistry
Submitted By:
Name: Nasson Chaudhary
Section: Napier
Roll no: 655
Batch: 2079

Submitted To:
Department of chemistry
Arniko Aawasiya Secondary Boarding School (+2 Science)
Biratnagar-10, Tintoliya, Morang
 Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to express special thanks to Arniko

Aawasiya Secondary School for providing this great opportunity
to prepare this project work report. This writing is fully based on
practicals. I am very grateful to Mr. Rajesh Karki (Principal) of
Arniko Aawasiya Secondary School for providing me with this
golden opportunity. In the preparation of this report, I have
received help from different sources. I would like to express lots
of gratitude to Mr. Saurav Kumar Jha , who helped me a lot in this
project and giving valuable guidance to prepare this report.
Besides , I would like to thank my family and friends for their
support and help. Also I would like to thank the website for
allowing me to take the data. This project has provided me a lot
of opportunity.

-----------------------
Nasson Chaudhary

Table of Content
 Page no.
• Acknowledgement …………….
• Introduction …………………...
• Material and methodology……..
• Result and discussion…………..
• Conclusion……………………...
• Reference……………………….
 1. Introduction

A pesticide is any substance which is used to prevent, destroy or repel any

pest from causing any damage. The term pest represents any living
organism that may cause harm to human in respect to food competition,
destruction of property and spread of disease. Pests include insects,
rodents, microbes, fungi and weeds (unwanted plants), etc. of agricultural,
medical and veterinary importance, and therefore, a pesticide can be an
insecticide, an insect and plant growth regulator, a fungicide, an herbicide,
a molluscicide, and an algaecide, etc. based on the target pest organism.

The major site of action for most pesticides are the nervous and endocrine
systems and, therefore, are also potentially toxic to human with serious
direct or indirect adverse health effects. Human beings are exposed to
pesticides directly or indirectly. Direct exposure occurs during pesticide
application process in agriculture, public health and livestock, and
fumigation while indirect exposure involves ingestion of contaminated
food and water, and inhalation of pesticides droplets from the drift.
Children are more susceptible to pesticides than adults due to their
physical makeup, behavior and physiology, and exposure to very low
levels at early developmental stages can cause adverse health effects.
Codex Alimentarius committee and the Pesticide Data Program of the
United States Department of Agriculture have established pesticide
maximum residue limits in edible food which must be followed to avoid
any health risks.

Pesticide exposures have been linked to the elevated incidence of human

diseases such as cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, birth defects, attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, autism, diabetes, and obesity, respiratory diseases,
organ diseases and system failures. People who are exposed to pesticides
are at a greater risk to develop various cancers including non-Hodgkin
lymphoma (NHL), leukemia, brain tumors, and cancers of the breast,
prostate, lung, stomach, colorectal, liver, and the urinary bladder.
Pesticides cause genetic and epigenetic changes by involving various
processes at cellular levels. Pesticides may be involved in endocrine
disruption and induction of inflammatory signals which result in
production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing oxidative stress.
ROS disrupt the cellular functions of mitochondria and endoplasmic
reticulum. In Nepal, during the 1950s, DDT was introduced for malaria
eradication program which was later imported by the Government of
Nepal. Later on, other pesticides like Gammexene and nicotine sulfates
were imported for the same purpose. Gradually, new kinds of pesticides
like organochlorines, organophosphates and carbamates and
syntheticpyrethroids were introduced for agricultural, public health and
other purposes. The worldwide consumption of pesticides is about two
million tons per year and out of which 45% is used by Europe alone, 25%
is consumed in the USA, and 25% in the rest of the world (EPA,2011 cited
in Dhital et al, 2015). Despite their benefits, pesticides can be hazardous
to both humans and the environment.
 2. Material and methodology
This report is based on the secondary information published by the
relevant organization and authors in Nepal and beyond. Especially the
data are been reviewed from Plant Protection Directorate (Department of
Agriculture), Pesticide Regulation and Management Program, Food and
Agriculture Organization, Pesticide Action Network and World Health
Organization's website and publications. The research reports of different
national and international journal that is available on online also have
been accessed and reviewed to prepare the report.

3. Result and discussion

Pesticides can cause short-term adverse health effects, called acute
effects, as well as chronic adverse effects that can occur months or years
after exposure. Examples of acute health effects include stinging eyes,
rashes, blisters, blindness, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea and death.
Examples of known chronic effects are cancers, birth defects,
reproductive harm, immunotoxicity, neurological and developmental
toxicity, and disruption of the endocrine system.
Some people are more vulnerable than others to pesticide impacts. For
example, infants and young children are known to be more
susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of pesticides. Farm workers and
pesticide applicators are also more vulnerable because they receive
greater exposures.
 4. Acute health effect

Immediate health effects from pesticide exposure includes irritation of the

nose, throat, and skin causing burning, stinging and itching as well as
rashes and blisters. Nausea, dizziness and diarrhea are also
common. People with asthma may have very severe reactions to some
pesticides, particularly pyrethrin/pyrethroid, organophosphate and
carbamate pesticides. In many cases, symptoms of pesticide poisoning
mimic symptoms of colds or the flu. Since pesticide-related illnesses
appear similar or identical to other illnesses, pesticide poisonings are often
misdiagnosed and under-reported. Immediate symptoms may not be
severe enough to prompt an individual to seek medical attention, or a
doctor might not even think to ask about pesticide exposure. Still, seek
medical attention immediately if you think you may have been poisoned
by pesticides.

5. Chronic (Long-term) Health Effects

Chronic health effects include cancer and other tumors; brain and nervous
system damage; birth defects; infertility and other reproductive problems;
and damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs and other body organs. Chronic
effects may not appear for weeks, months or even years after exposure,
making it difficult to link health impacts to pesticides.
Pesticides have been implicated in human studies of leukemia, lymphoma
and cancers of the brain, breasts, prostate, testes and ovaries.
Reproductive harm from pesticides includes birth defects, still
birth, spontaneous abortion, sterility and infertility.
 6. Conclusion

Pesticides are often considered a quick, easy, and inexpensive solution for
controlling weeds and insect pests in agriculture, public health and other
areas. However, Pesticides have contaminated almost every part of our
environment. Pesticide residues are found in soil and air, as well as in
surface and ground water across the countries, and contamination poses
significant risks to the human health as well as environment and non-
target organisms ranging from beneficial soil microorganisms to insects,
plants, fish and birds. Since 1950s, pesticides have been used for
increasing the agricultural productivity and safeguarding the public health
in Nepal. Every year the consumption of pesticide for agriculture purpose
is increasing. Though the quantity of consumption per hectare in
agricultural field is very low comparing with other countries of the globe
but due to haphazard use of pesticide in some commodity and ignorance
of waiting period after its application has increased the exposure of farm
families to pesticides and intake of pesticides by consumers, which are
becoming major health threat. Injudicious and indiscriminate use of
pesticides and presence of pesticide residues in food, fruits, vegetables
and environment is a matter of grave-concerns in our context.
To sum up, based on our limited knowledge of direct and/or inferential
information, the domain of pesticides illustrates a certain ambiguity in
situations in which people are undergoing life-long exposure. There is
thus every reason to develop health education packages based on
knowledge, aptitude and practices and to disseminate them within the
community in order to minimize human exposure to pesticides.
7. Reference

• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Pesticide-actions-and-their-
effects-on-reproductive-function-of-human_fig4_348555390
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• https://www.pesticidereform.org/pesticides-human-health
• https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/73921
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00148/full
• Arora, S., Kapoor, A. K. & Bambawale, O.M. (2011). Pesticides:
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New Delhi: National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, Indian
Council for Agricultural Research, IARI, Pusa Campus
• Aryal, K.K., Neupane, S., Lohani, G.R., Jors, E., Neupane, D.,
Khanal, P.R., Jha, B.K., Dhimal, M., Shrestha, B.M., Bista, B.,
Poudyal, A., Karki, K.B. (2016). Health Effects of Pesticide among
Vegetable Farmers and the Adaptation Level of Integrated Pest
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Health Research Council, 2016