DO PESTICIDES DESERVE THE `BAD RAP' THEY GET IN THE US?

Objectives: Currently, public opinion pollsters report that Americans fear pesticides far more than tobacco smoke--apparently even more than Europeans fear `Frankenfoods'. The question is, of course, `Do data from the last decade support such a phobia?' Methods: Acute morbidity and mortality data from pesticides were gathered from the annual reports of the American Association of Poison Control Centers for the last decade and compared with comparable data for carbon monoxide and ethylene glycol. In addition, data dealing with exposures were culled from the annual reports of the state of Washington's Pesticide Incident Reporting and Tracking Panel since 1989. Finally, national data dealing with chronic conditions in childhood were appraised on the assumption that detrimental effects of chemicals--were they to exist--would be reflected in chronic morbidity and mortality data. Results: Over the past decade, more than 595,000 total pesticide cases were reported to the AAPCC; among these there were 124 deaths, with 67% being classified as suicidal. Moreover, a total of only 14 deaths in children aged less than 10 were attributed to `pesticide poisoning'. In contrast, carbon monoxide accounted for some 130,000 cases, with 327 deaths, again with many suicidal efforts. Similarly, ethylene glycol's track record continues to burgeon with some 45,000 case reports with 104 deaths--more than 80% of which were related to suicide, but with only 1 death--a homicide--among 7,100 children. Review of chronic morbidity and mortality figures from the United States shows a continuing decline in incidence of both--save for the occurrence of what is classified as `asthma' and certain unusual forms of acute leukemia--wherein improved diagnostic accuracy serves as an enormous confounder. Conclusion: In the author's opinion, current data simply do not begin to explain in any way, shape, or form the US public's paranoia about pesticides. Conceivably, exaggerations and extrapolations from the `DDT fiasco' as popularized by Rachel Carson's `Silent Spring' in 1962 is etiologic. Perhaps our society is simply experiencing hesitancy in accepting `any and all synthetic chemicals' as it seeks to return to the `good old days'. Or conceivably our media have been more successful than might be expected in popularizing the heritage of organophosphate pesticides from their forebears of `nerve gases'--still available to terrorists on a worldwide basis. Personally, I would hypothesize that paranoia about genetically modified foods in the US is unlikely to achieve enough status to replace pesticides as the leading target of ridicule. But, candidly, I'd be optimistic that a media campaign alerting our population to the horrendous dangers of `aliens from outer space' might just succeed in removing the focus from pesticides. Robertson WO. Washington Poison Center, Seattle, Washington, USA