A report on

“STUDY OF APPLICATION AND ADVERSE EFFECTS OF

PESTICIDES ON HUMAN HEALTH”

A project work submitted for partial fulfillment for the internal evaluation

Submitted by

Name: Nischal Poudel Name: Nisha Chhetri Name:Nishan Baral

Roll No: 19 Roll No: 20 Roll No:21

Name: Nishan Bastola Name: Nishrit Baral Name: Pratik Thapa

Roll No:22 Roll No:23 Roll No:24

Submitted to:
Gandaki Boarding School
Lamachaur, Pokhara, Nepal
2078
ABSTRACT
Pesticides are used in managing pests and their use will continue in
future because of food security and vector control. Most pesticides
are potentially toxic to human beings resulting in severe health
consequences. There is also evidence that parental exposure, as
well as, exposure in early life or adolescence could increase the
longer-term risks. Pesticide exposures have been linked to many
human diseases such as 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. The cell culture is an
excellent experimental model reflecting human exposure to
pesticides at a molecular level which is necessary to understand the
hazards. Pesticide users should be aware of their risks and proper
handling, as well as must use personal protective equipment which
is effective in reducing damage to human health. Carcinogenic
pesticides must be eliminated and sustainable and new approaches
in pest management should be encouraged.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project has been completed by Nischal Poudel, Nisha Chhetri, Nishan
Baral, Nishan Bastola, Nishrit Baral & Pratik Thapa.We are very thankful to our
teacher Mr. Parmeshwar Sharma & Mrs. Chandrakala Shrestha who has guided
us in completing this project. We are thankful to +2 Supervisor Mr. Jhapindra
Adhikari & Mr.SL, Mr.DRG & Mrs. SG are equally helpful to us in making this
project. We hope you will appreciate our work. We also thank Mr. ………… for
the appreciable work done by him/her in computer typing and figure designing.

APPROVAL SHEETS
This is to certify that ........................... of Gandaki Boarding School of group D
has satisfactorily completed the course of experiments in project work of
Chemistry prescribed by NEB in the year 2078.

DECLERATION
We hereby declare that the project entitled “Study of application and
adverse effects of pesticides on human health”is an outcome of our own efforts
under the guidance of Mrs. Chandrakala Shrestha. The Project is submitted to the
Gandaki Boarding School of Lamachaur-16, Pokhara for the partial fulfillment
of the internal grading of 2078-2079.
We also declare that this project report has not been previously submitted
to any other university.

Date – 2079-10-
Place- Lamachaur-16, Pokhara

TABLE OF CONTENTS

i) Introduction
……………………………………………………………………......
- Types of
Pesticides………………………………………………………..
 - Importance of Pesticides
………………………………………………
- Impacts of Pesticides on human health
………………………..
ii) Literature Review
………………………………………………………………....
iii) Materials and Methods
………………………………………………………......
iv) Results and Discussion
……………………………………………………………..
v) Conclusion
……………………………………………………………………………….
vi) References
……………………………………………………………………………….

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
foodcompetition, 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 system 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.
Directly exposure occurs during pesticides application process in
agriculture, public health and livestock, and fumigation while
indirect exposure involves ingestion of contaminated food and
water, and inhalation of 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.

Pesticide exposure causes Cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, Asthma,

Bronchitis, Diabetes, Obesity, Respiratory Disease, Organ Failure
and system failures. Pesticide causes 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.
Types of Pesticides:
 Fig 2: Organic Pesticide Fig 3: Inorganic Pesticide
Organic (which contains Carbon) & Inorganic (which contains
minerals). Organic Pesticides are hydrophobic and more complex
than those of inorganic pesticides. Organic pesticides can be natural
or synthetic. The major types of pesticides used in agriculture,
forestry, landscape, medical and veterinary sector are listed below
in table (Table 1)

Types of Pesticide Active Target Pests

Ingredient
Insecticides Natural & Insect (6-legged) pests of agricultural,
Synthetic forestry, landscape, medical and
veterinary importance
Fungicides Natural & Fungal diseases (molds, mildews, rust) of
Synthetic agricultural, forestry and landscape
importance
Insect growth Synthetic Disrupt the growth and reproduction of
regulators insect pests. IGR are species or genus
specific.
Algaecides Natural and Algae growing on different surfaces, e.g.,
synthetic patios
Plant growth Synthetic Alter plants growth, e.g., induce or delay
regulators flowering
Biopesticides Natural Can be insecticides, fungicides or
 herbicides

(SOURCE - http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/index.html).

Importance of Pesticides
The United Nations population division estimates 9.7 billion people
by the year 2050 and to feed them, the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that an 80%
increase in food production is necessary. This increase in
production will come from an increase in yields of crops as well as a
decrease of damage to crops due to pests. There are approximately
9000 species of insects/mites (14% loss), 50,000 species of plant
pathogens (13% loss) and 8000 weeds species (13% loss) worldwide
[2]. Without pesticide application the pest losses to fruits,
vegetables and cereals would reach 78%, 54% and 32%,
respectively. Pesticides are, therefore, indispensable in agricultural
production and there will be a need for pesticide-based pest
control and food security in the future. Pesticides are also used to
control vector-born infectious diseases such as Zika virus, Lyme
disease, and rabies, household pests like cockroaches, bed bugs,
and as repellents etc. More than 1000 active ingredients are used in
pesticides around the world to ensure food safety and prevention
from pests and the highest amount (~45%) is spent on herbicides
followed by insecticides, fungicides, and other types of pesticides.

Impacts of Pesticide use on human health

1) Acute health effects of pesticide exposure
The short term acute adverse effects pesticide exposure on human
health are stinging eyes, rashes, blisters, skin irritations, blindness,
nausea, dizziness, diarrhea and death. Exposure to pesticides in
agricultural work can cause serious risks to the respiratory system
causing chronic cough, dyspnea, wheezing and expectoration,
decreased lung capacity, asthma, and bronchitis. These respiratory
problems were found in workers in flower crops in Ethiopia, coffee
plantations in Brazil and banana plantations in Costa Rica. In
banana farming in Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), the use of
pesticides was related to the symptoms of burning in the throat
and lungs, airway congestion, cramps, skin peeling, diarrhea,
headache, chest pain, weakness, cough and skin irritation.
Many studies have found positive associations with pesticide
exposure and children’s respiratory and allergic effects such as
asthma, wheezing, coughs, acute respiratory infections, hay fever,
rhinitis, eczema, chronic phlegm, and lung function impairments. A
study of school-age children with asthma in the agricultural
community of Yakima Valley (Washington State) found that
increase in exposures to OP insecticides was related with increase
in LTE4 levels which was associated with a higher risk of asthma
morbidity [13]. The neonicotinoid insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid,
nitenpyram) are nicotinic receptors agonists and their exposure
cause nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, respiratory effects,
headache, lethargy, and tachycardia.
2) Chronic effects of pesticide exposure
The long-term chronic adverse effects of pesticides exposure are
cancers, birth defects, reproductive harm, neurological and
developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, and disruption of the
endocrine system. The chronic effects of pesticides on human can
be categorized into three major groups; neurotoxic effects,
genotoxic and carcinogenic effects (such as Cancer), and
reproductive effects.
LITERATURE REVIEW
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Prior to data collection, ethical approval was sought from the
independent Ethical Review Board of the Nepal Health Research
Council. A sample size of 660 was calculated. Mix method
(Qualitative and Quantitative) was used to collect data and two
stage cluster sampling was applied using a mix of probability
proportionate to size (PPS) and a simple random sampling using the
sampling frame from the Annual Progress Report of Potato,
Vegetable and Masala Development Program 2011 to select the
participants. Primary sampling unit of this study was vegetable
program. There were a total of 168 vegetable programs running
across 75 districts of Nepal. Out of the total 168 vegetable
programs, 15 vegetable programs were selected using PPS sampling
method. A vegetable program covers two to ten vegetable pockets.
Vegetable pocket was considered as a secondary sampling unit
(SSU) in this study. Two vegetable pockets were selected with
simple random sampling. Eligible farmers working in selected
vegetable pockets listed in alphabetical order and 22 farmers were
selected from one vegetable pocket using simple random sampling.
Individual face to face interview was conducted using structured
questionnaire. Physical and biological measurement was done to
assess the health effect of pesticide among vegetable farmers of
Nepal. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was done among IPM trained
farmers and structured questionnaires were applied with two key
personnel of the District Health Office to assess the adaptation
level of IPM based on Diffusion Theory of Innovation. The
questionnaires covered information on demographic, pesticide
practice, handling procedure and pesticide knowledge of
participants. Physical measurements included height and weight,
which was vi Health Effects of Pesticide among Vegetable Farmers
and the Adaptation Level of Integrated Pest Management Program
in Nepal, 2014 measured by validated equipments. Biochemical
measurements included blood glucose and AChE levels by dry
method and ellmen method respectively. Quantitative data were
analysed using the SPSS version 16.0. Qualitative data were
analyzed using content analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDICES
Pesticides are chemical compounds that are
used to kill pests, including
insects, rodents, fungi and unwanted plants
(weeds). Pesticides are used
in public health to kill vectors of disease,
such as mosquitoes, and in
agriculture, to kill pests that damage crops.
The term pesticide includes all
of the following: herbicide, insecticides
nematicide, molluscicide,
piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide,
insect repellent, animal
repellent, antimicrobial, and fungicide.
It has been decades since the
pesticide issue has been beautifully raised
by Rachel Carson in her
explosive best seller book Silent Spring
(Carson, 2002). Since then many
debates have been bursting out on this issue
realizing that relying solely
on the chemical control method is slowly
leading towards a poisonous and
dangerous world. Also, Masanobu Fukuoka
has perfectly blended
spirituality and agriculture in his book one
straw revolution giving
principles of natural farming which suggests
and strongly stresses on not
inputting any external chemical compounds in
any names to the cropping
system (Fukuoka, 2009).
It has been decades since the
pesticide issue has been beautifully raised
by Rachel Carson in her
explosive best seller book Silent Spring
(Carson, 2002). Since then many
debates have been bursting out on this issue
realizing that relying solely
on the chemical control method is slowly
leading towards a poisonous and
dangerous world. Also, Masanobu Fukuoka
has perfectly blended
spirituality and agriculture in his book one
straw revolution giving
principles of natural farming which suggests
and strongly stresses on not
inputting any external chemical compounds in
any names to the cropping
system (Fukuoka, 2009).It has been decades since the
pesticide issue has been beautifully raised by Rachel Carson in
her explosive best seller book Silent Spring (Carson, 2002). Since
then many debates have been bursting out on this issue realizing
that relying solely on the chemical control method is slowly leading
towards a poisonous and dangerous world. Also, Masanobu
Fukuoka has perfectly blended spirituality and agriculture in his
book one straw revolution giving principles of natural farming
which suggests and strongly stresses on not inputting any external
chemical compounds in any names to the cropping system
(Fukuoka, 2009)