R.H.
McKnight, J.R. Mays and G.C. Rodgers, E.J. Levine
NIOSH Education and Information Division
Poison
control centers are an untapped resource in the effort to
detect and prevent agricultural poisonings. The nation's 68
regional poison centers provide services in 39 states through
24-hour telephone assistance to physicians and the general
public. At each center, reports of suspected poisonings are
recorded in a toxic-exposure surveillance system and indexed
by implicated agent. This index lists many toxic agents found
in agriculture, including plants, agricultural chemicals and
veterinary drugs. In addition to surveillance, poison centers
provide prevention services. The alliance of poison centers
and agricultural health initiatives appears weak. Only a few
agricultural studies have used data from poison centers; we
found even fewer examples in which poison center resources
were used to prevent agricultural poisonings. We give three
examples from the University of Kentucky/Southeast Center
and the Kentucky Regional Poison Center to illustrate how
a partnership with a poison center can be mutually beneficial
to each institution's mission.
Our
first study, in 1992, estimated the ratio of agricultural
work poisonings to all occupational poisonings reported in
Kentucky. A random sample (n=216) was selected from the 1439
occupational poisonings reported during a 12-month period.
Of these, 160 cases received follow-up calls; 11.2% were determined
to be agricultural. Implicated toxins included tobacco plants,
agricultural chemicals and pesticides.
A second
study, in 1993, reviewed agricultural poisonings from the
tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum, for 1990-1993. Analysis
showed these reports of acute nicotine poisoning (Green Tobacco
Sickness) to cluster in both time and space. Most calls to
the poison center were received between 8 PM and 2 AM, and
a disproportionate number originated from six contiguous tobacco-producing
counties in Central Kentucky.
In a
third project, in the summer of 1993, the Southeast Center
coordinated prevention activities for Green Tobacco Sickness
(GTS) through the Kentucky Regional Poison Center. Poison
Center staff conducted follow-up interviews with 120 suspected
GTS patients and the physicians and hospitals who reported
the cases, and also distributed notices to hospitals regarding
the treatment of GTS.
We urge
other agricultural centers, health departments and extension
services to develop links with their poison centers, as such
actions will assist in the surveillance and prevention of
agricultural poisonings.
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and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: R.H. McKnight, J.R. Mays & G.C.
Rodgers, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY; E.J. Levine,
Kentucky Regional Poison Center, Louisville, KY.
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