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Exposure & Prevention

In our efforts to help prevent pesticide poisoning, it is important for us to be aware of how exposure presents itself and some of the common symptoms that accompanies this potentially deadly illness.

What Exposure Looks Like?

Acute Poisoning:
Occurs after exposure to a single dose of a pesticide. Symptoms may be sudden, dramatic, or delayed.

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Chronic poisoning: 

Occurs when you are repeatedly exposed to small non-lethal doses over an extended period of time.

What Exposure Looks Like?

Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC) is an educational resource provided by the EPA and UC Davis.
For more information please visit: http://pesticideresources.org/ 

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Lungs

  • Coughing

  • Difficult Breathing

  • Burning in the throat and lungs 

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Eyes

  • Reddening

  • Skin Irritation

  • Itching

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Dermal

  • A temporary or permanent eye irritation or eyelids 

  • Blindness

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Mouth

  • Twitching in the muscle

  • Sweating

  • Weakness

  • Nausea

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Figure 8: Field Worker Mechanism of Exposure to Pesticides. California Summary of Pesticide Illness Surveillance, 2017

Leading Causes

1. Direct contact: when an individual is sprayed directly by mist or stream.

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2. Pesticide drift: when air or mist is blown from aerial or ground spraying onto others.

 

3. Pesticide residue: resulting from contact with crops after they have been sprayed, occurs during harvest and can be spread to others.

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