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A HEALTH SURVEY OF WEE WAA RESIDENTS DURING 1973 AERIAL SPRAYING SEASON
Author(s) -
Ouw K. H.,
Shandar A. G.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1974.tb93731.x
Subject(s) - pesticide , environmental health , toxicology , hazard , health hazard , organophosphate , medicine , biology , agronomy , ecology
Pesticide poisoning among occupationally exposed people was not uncommon during the 1971–1972 spraying season. In this survey, an attempt was made to determine whether aerial spraying with pesticides in the Namoi Valley, N.S.W., constituted a health hazard, especially to residents in Wee Waa with no known pesticide exposure. Seventy‐six people were examined; 47 of them had no history of pesticide exposure. From the lack of symptoms and the blood test results (with the possible exception of one case) it was concluded that no health hazard from pesticides existed in the non‐exposed group. There were three cases of mild poisoning due to organophosphate pesticides in the occupationally exposed group. This was not a random survey and therefore It may not indicate the true exposure risk to the residents of Wee Waa of environmental pesticides.