<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Agriculture is an important occupation in Malaysia that generates a major portion of the national revenue. Similar to the rest of the world, pesticides are used to boost agricultural production in Malaysian farms. However, chemical pesticides are associated with human health hazard and are not environment-friendly as they persist in nature for long periods of time. Therefore, pesticide use should be reduced and farmers should be trained on correct and/or alternative ways of pesticide use. In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed 19 palm oil plantations in the Sabah district of Malaysia and evaluated the perception of the workers towards pesticide use and awareness regarding the health effects post-pesticide exposure. Analysis of the survey shows that most of the workers among the 270 respondents were 30-year-old males with average education, and belonged to the low income group. Majority opined that they were aware of the health hazards of pesticide use and suffered from symptoms (with mean duration of three days) such as vomiting, diarrhea, skin irritation, and dizziness. Surprisingly, the opinion was almost equally divided on whether they perceived pesticides to be the cause of their health problems, and a major percentage did not avail medical help. Most of the workers responded that they did not receive any training in pesticide handling and used partial personal protective equipment (glasses, hats, shirt, and gloves) during working hours. Interestingly, a large percentage responded that they would not read the safety material even if it was provided. These observations clearly highlight the urgency of improving the awareness, education, and attitude of these plantation workers towards the short- and long-term effects of pesticide use. They should also be educated about alternative and eco-friendly ways of farming. Finally, the plantation management should intervene and proactively advocate the use of safe farming practices.</p></abstract>

Agriculture is an important occupation in Malaysia that generates a major portion of the national revenue. Similar to the rest of the world, pesticides are used to boost agricultural production in Malaysian farms. However, chemical pesticides are associated with human health hazard and are not environment-friendly as they persist in nature for long periods of time. Therefore, pesticide use should be reduced and farmers should be trained on correct and/or alternative ways of pesticide use. In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed 19 palm oil plantations in the Sabah district of Malaysia and evaluated the perception of the workers towards pesticide use and awareness regarding the health effects post-pesticide exposure. Analysis of the survey shows that most of the workers among the 270 respondents were 30-year-old males with average education, and belonged to the low income group. Majority opined that they were aware of the health hazards of pesticide use and suffered from symptoms (with mean duration of three days) such as vomiting, diarrhea, skin irritation, and dizziness. Surprisingly, the opinion was almost equally divided on whether they perceived pesticides to be the cause of their health problems, and a major percentage did not avail medical help. Most of the workers responded that they did not receive any training in pesticide handling and used partial personal protective equipment (glasses, hats, shirt, and gloves) during working hours. Interestingly, a large percentage responded that they would not read the safety material even if it was provided. These observations clearly highlight the urgency of improving the awareness, education, and attitude of these plantation workers towards the short- and long-term effects of pesticide use. They should also be educated about alternative and eco-friendly ways of farming. Finally, the plantation management should intervene and proactively advocate the use of safe farming practices.

Evaluating the perception of farmers towards pesticides and the health effect of pesticides: A cross-sectional study in the oil palm plantations of Papar, Malaysia

Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Community & Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Interdisciplinary Toxicology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Agriculture is an important occupation in Malaysia that generates a major portion of the national revenue. Similar to the rest of the world, pesticides are...

Evaluating the perception of farmers towards pesticides and the health effect of pesticides: A cross-sectional study in the oil palm plantations of Papar, Malaysia

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 15 - 25

Received: Feb 15, 2018

Accepted: Jul 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/intox-2019-0003

Keywords
chemical pesticides, human health hazard, neurobehavioral alterations, plantation management, Malaysia

© 2019 Shameer Khan Bin Sulaiman et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Evaluating the perception of farmers towards pesticides and the health effect of pesticides: A cross-sectional study in the oil palm plantations of Papar, Malaysia

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 15 - 25

Received: Feb 15, 2018

Accepted: Jul 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/intox-2019-0003

Keywordschemical pesticides, human health hazard, neurobehavioral alterations, plantation management, Malaysia

© 2019 Shameer Khan Bin Sulaiman et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
chemical pesticides, human health hazard, neurobehavioral alterations, plantation management, Malaysia