Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Management of pesticide and agricultural chemical poisoning 

Management of pesticide and agricultural chemical poisoning
Chapter:
Management of pesticide and agricultural chemical poisoning
Author(s):

Elspeth J. Hulse

and Michael Eddleston

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199600830.003.0330
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 02 August 2021

Poisoning with agricultural chemicals is common in rural Asia-Pacific with up to 300,000 annual deaths from pesticide self-poisoning. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of pesticides can vary markedly depending on the chemicals ingested, the pesticide’s lipid solubility, enzyme reactivation, co-ingested toxicants, and extent of decontamination and organ dysfunction. Diagnosis and management is based on clinical signs and standard investigations. Staff should wear standard universal precaution attire for examining and treating patients; nosocomial poisoning is rare. Management of poisonings should include careful airway intervention and administration of oxygen, except in suspected paraquat poisoning. Organophosphorus insecticide poisoning causes a cholinergic crisis with excess airway secretions and acute respiratory failure. Patients should be treated with intravenous atropine and observed for the neuromuscular disorder ‘intermediate syndrome’, which can cause further paralysis and respiratory failure after 24 hours. Few antidotes exist for other agricultural chemical poisonings with the mainstay of treatment being supportive standard ICU care.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.