Fact Sheet - Agricultural Production and
Pesticide Pollution
Estimated Population at Risk at Identified Sites: 2.2 Million People*
Estimated Global Impact: 3 to 6 Million People*
What Are Pesticides?
The term “pesticide” describes a category of agrochemicals that are used to protect crops from various bacteria and pests, and they are widely used in agricultural processes. Though pesticides have been instrumental in contributing to global agricultural growth, they can be toxic and dangerous to human health.
How Are Pesticides Used in Agricultural Production?
Pesticides include insecticides, molluscicides, nematocides, fungicides, and herbacides and are used to disrupt the ability of certain species to harm crop yields by paralyzing or killing them. Organophosphates and organochlorine pesticides, for example, can cause damage to the nervous systems of unwanted pests by harming neurotransmitting enzymes. The use of pesticides worldwide has grown exponentially over the past sixty years, with approximately 2.3 million tons of industrial pesticides used annually. Agricultural workers generally apply pesticides by spraying them onto crops.
What Are the Human Exposure Pathways for Pesticides from Agriculture?
The spraying of pesticides releases toxins into the air, where they can be inhaled by workers or can travel beyond the area of intended application. Pesticides can also reach people who do not directly work in agriculture when large amounts are washed into streams, lakes, oceans, and groundwater sources by rain or irrigation. The toxins can then be directly ingested in drinking water, or can accumulate in the tissues of aquatic life. Many of the most widely used pesticides have been classified as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), meaning that they have long life-spans, do not biodegrade well, and have the ability to bio-accumulate in living tissue. When large amounts of pesticides build up in food sources, this contaminates the food chain for nearby communities.
What Are the Health Risks Associated with Pesticide Exposure?
According to reports from the World Health Organization, approximately 20,000 agricultural workers die annually from exposure to toxins in pesticides. Though there are many different kinds of pesticides, each with its own particular health impacts from a variety of chemicals, common health effects include skin irritations, respiratory and pulmonary problems, vision loss, damage to nervous and immune systems, birth defects, DNA damage, disruption of the hormonal system, many different forms of cancer, and in some cases, death.
*Population estimates are preliminary and based on an ongoing global
assessment of polluted sites.
