Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
b.
Acute Inhalation Effects
Your entire respiratory system can be burned by some pesticides, making
it difficult to breathe. Other pesticides inhaled may not harm your respiratory
system, but are carried quickly in your blood throughout your whole body
where they can cause harm in various ways.
c.
Acute Dermal and Skin Irritation Effects
Contact with some pesticides will harm your skin. These pesticides may
cause your skin to itch, blister, crack, or change color. Other pesticides can
pass through your skin and eyes and get into your body. Once inside your
body, these pesticides are carried throughout your system where they can cause
harm in various ways.
d.
Acute Eye Effects
Some pesticides that get into your eyes can cause temporary or permanent
blindness or severe irritation. Other pesticides may not irritate your eyes, but
pass through your eyes and into your body. These pesticides can travel
throughout your body, causing harm in various ways.
Table 7.1
lists the
typical precautionary statements found in pesticide labeling.
2.
Delayed or Chronic Effects
Delayed effects are illnesses or injuries that do not appear immediately
(within 24 hours) after exposure to a pesticide or combination of pesticides.
Often the term "chronic effects" is used to describe delayed effects, but this
term is applicable only to certain types of delayed effects.
Delayed effects may be caused by:
•
Repea ted expos ure
to a pesticide, a pesticide group , or a combi-
nation of pesticides over a long period of time.
•
A
single expos ure
to a pesticide (or combination of pesticides)
that causes a harmful reaction that does not become apparent until
much later
Some pesticides cause delayed effects only with
repeated exposure
over
a period of days, months, or even years. For example, if a rat eats a large
amount of the pesticide cryolite at one time, the pesticide passes through the
rat's system quickly and is eliminated without harmful effects. However, if
the rat regularly eats small amounts of cryolite, it soon becomes ill and dies.
Cryolite does not readily dissolve in water. The small amount of pesticide
