These
components make up the 5 surveys that farmers conduct among
themselves or within their communities. They are as
follows:
1.
1.
Pesticides used during spray sessions (and during
household surveys or in local pesticide shops) are
classified by brand and common name, hazard level, and
chemical family.
2.
2.
Quantification of yearly spray frequency, total
liters of pesticide solution exposure, and numbers of
pesticides used per tank are calculated.
3.
3.
Farmers are observed during spray sessions to
identify routes of pesticide exposure and personal
protective equipment (PPE) used during a real spray
session.
4.
4.
Farmer households are observed to identify hazardous
child, food, water, and live stock pesticide storage and
disposal practices.
5.
5.
Farmers interview
and examine each other before, after and 24 hours after a
spray session using a panel of 32 signs and symptoms of
pesticide poisoning on a body map form.
Once
the participating farmers collect the data, they analyze
and present the results back to those that they interviewed
and the rest of the community in the following educational
format.
1.
Pesticides. Pesticide classification by hazard level
groups is presented to the community so they can understand
which products are most harmful to their health
(see Table 1 on next page).
Pesticide classification by the major chemical
families is also presented. This is used to teach farmers
how different pesticides affect their bodies, e.g. the
organophosphates/ carbamates affect the peripheral nervous
system, organochlorines- the central nervous system, and
pyrethroids have local effects at usual doses (Table 2 on
next page).
2.
Amounts Used: The amounts of pesticide
solution used per year are presented as an average per
farmer. These figures are then compared to the reduced
amounts that would be used if the community and or
individual farmers adopted IPM methods. The health and
economic savings are discussed. (Table 3 on next page).
3.
Exposure During Spraying: Pesticide contamination of
the various body parts is colored in red.
The pictures will demonstrate spraying up wind,
leaking tanks, wet clothing, smoking and other routes of
exposure. We emphasize the importance of skin as the most
critical exposure, especially during mixing and through wet
clothing. Groups identify what types of personal protective
equipment (PPE) they observe in use. Discussions on why so
little is used consistently reveal that PPE is too hot, too
cumbersome, unavailable and too expensive.
It thus become clear to the participants that safe
practices through the use of PPE is not a practical way to
prevent pesticide poisoning in Asia.
