Acute adverse health effects of pesticides sprayed on Khat trees | ||
| Journal of Pest Control and Environmental Sciences | ||
| Volume 8, Issue 1, April 2000, Pages 97-106 PDF (210.09 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jpces.2000.460490 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Ahmed M. Al-Hadrani* ; Abdul Rahman Thabet | ||
| Yemeni Cancer Society, Faculties or Medicine and Agriculture, Sana'a University, Sana’a, Yemen Republic | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Khat, Catha edulis is a plant of the family Celastraceae. The leaves of khat are chewed for their stimulating effects Cathinone is the active substance in khat Khat is sprayed with pesticides for protection from pests. This is a prospective study which was conducted between February 1997 and September 1998 The aims of the study was to identify and evaluate the acute toxic effects of pesticides used on khat The study included 614 farmers who use pesticides with ages ranged from 8 to 70 years, Acute adverse effects were seen in 196 (31 9%) of cases and skin lesions were the commonest, followed by ocular toxicity Acute fatal poisoning by pesticides was reported in 5 cases, two of them were children under 11 years of age Also the study indicated that 6.4% of pesticide applicators were children under 15 years of age. There was a decrease in the activity of serum acetylcolinestrase and the exposure index indicated a high chronic exposure level in pesticide exposed khat faltners. The results of this study indicated that the hazardous use of pesticides on khat is a serious health problem, with a short and long term adverse health effects on humans. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Acute adverse health effects; pesticides; Khat trees | ||
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