Abstract
Pesticide poisoning is a major public health issue especially in low-income countries. WHO figures show about 3 million pesticide poisonings occurring worldwide annually. A recent systematic review estimated that 360 000 fatalities result from self-poisoning with pesticides, accounting for approximately 30 per cent of all suicides worldwide. We analyzed the German cause-of-death registry with respect to pesticide-specific ICD codes. We present crude and age-standardized mortality rates plus the percentage of all suicides that are intentional pesticide poisonings. From 1980 to 2010 the number of fatal pesticide poisoning in Germany dropped from 506 to 39. The crude mortality rate decreased from 6.5 per 1 million inhabitants in 1980 to 0.5 in 2010. Reduced availability of toxic pesticides in Germany played the biggest role in the decline of fatal pesticide poisoning. We worry that declines in pesticide poisonings in industrialized countries are not matched in developing countries.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, WHO/UNEP Working Group on Public Health Impact of Pesticides Used in Agriculture. (1990) Public Health Impact of Pesticides Used in Agriculture. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
United Nations Environment Programme Global chemical outlook. (2014) Towards sound management of chemicals – Synthesis report for decision-makers, http://www.unep.org/chemicalsandwaste/Portals/9/Mainstreaming/GCO/The%20Global%20Chemical%20Outlook_Full%20report_15Feb2013.pdf, accessed 20 February 2014.
Bertolote, J.M., Fleischmann, A., Eddleston, M. and Gunnell, D. (2006) Deaths from pesticide poisoning: A global response. British Journal of Psychiatry 189 (3): 201–203.
Gunnell, D. and Eddleston, M. (2003) Suicide by intentional ingestion of pesticides: A continuing tragedy in develoing countries. International Journal of Epidemiology 32 (6): 902–909.
Gunnell, D., Eddleston, M., Phillips, M.R. and Koradsen, F. (2007) The global distribution of fatal pesticide self-poisoning: Systematic review. BMC Public Health 7 (357): 1–15.
Dinham, B. (2010) Communities in peril: Global report on health impacts of pesticide use in agriculture. Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific, http://www.pan-germany.org/download/PAN-I_CBM-Global-Report_1006-final.pdf, accessed 20 February 2014.
Gonzalez-Andrade, F., Lopez-Pulles, R. and Estevez, E (2010) Acute pesticide poisoning in Ecuador: A short epidemiological report. Journal of Public Health 18 (5): 437–442.
Thomas, K. and Gunnell, D (2010) Suicide in England and Wales 1861–2007. International Journal of Epidemiology 39 (6): 1464–1475.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2012) Todesursachen in Deutschland. Fachserie 12, Reihe 4 2013, https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Gesundheit/AlteAusgaben/TodesursachenAlt.html, accessed 6 March 2013. Data extractable also under http://www.gbe-bund.de/.
Statistisches Bundesamt. https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/Bevoelkerungsstand/ Tabellen_/lrbev03.html, accessed 3 January 2015.
Bödeker, W. (1991) Suicidal pesticide poisoning. World Health Forum 12 (2): 208–209.
Bödeker, W. (1994) Tödliche und nichttödliche Vergiftungen durch Pestizide in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Nachrichtenblatt des Deutschen Pflanzenschutzdienstes 46 (11): 237–242.
Umweltbundesamt. (2013) Pflanzenschutzmitteleinsatz in der Landwirtschaft. http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/daten/land-forstwirtschaft/landwirtschaft/pflanzenschutzmitteleinsatz-in-der-landwirtschaft, accessed 20 February 2014.
DG SANCO. (2014) EU Pesticides database. http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/index.cfm?event=activesubstance.selection&a=1, accessed 20 February 2014.
Runeson, B., Tidemalm, D., Dahin, M., Lichtenstein, P. and Langström, N. (2010) Method of attempted suicide as predictor of subsequent successful suicide: National long term cohort study. British Medical Journal 341 (c3222): 341.
PAN Germany. (2014) Stop pesticide poisonings! A time travel through international pesticide policies. 2nd updated and extended edition. Hamburg, Germany, http://www.pan-germany.org/download/stop_pesticide_poisonings_141002.pdf, accessed 15 October 2014.
WHO International Programme on Chemical Safety. (2014) Implementing the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, http://www.who.int/ipcs/capacity_building/stockholm_rotterdam/en/, accessed 15 October 2014.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2014) International code of conduct on pesticide management, http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/pests/code/en/, accessed 15 October 2014.
WHO. (2014) Preventing suicide – A global imperative, http://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/world_report_2014/en/, accessed 15 October 2014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Self-poisoning with pesticides results in 360 000 fatalities, about 30 per cent of yearly suicides worldwide. The authors examined death records in Germany and found reduced availability of toxic pesticides there played the biggest role in curbing fatal poisonings.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moebus, S., Bödeker, W. Mortality of intentional and unintentional pesticide poisonings in Germany from 1980 to 2010. J Public Health Pol 36, 170–180 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2014.56
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2014.56