Improving availability of information about human exposures to pesticides

Despite their benefits, pesticides can, in some circumstances, also cause harm to health and the environment.

International conventions, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, provide a means for countries to protect their populations from exposure to toxic pesticides. Successful implementation of these conventions requires information about the incidence and circumstances of pesticide exposures, and about the health impact of exposure. In many countries such information is still lacking.

Tools for data collection on pesticide exposures

Under an international IPCS project on the epidemiology of human pesticides exposure a number of tools for data collection have been developed. These are:

  • Pesticides Exposure Record (PER) – a standard format for collecting data on human exposures to pesticides;
  • Core data set, and controlled and defined terminology to describe cases in PER; and
  • Standardized case definition and classification scheme for acute pesticide poisoning.

Pesticides Exposure Record

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