Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 6;20(1):303.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8374-9.

Acute pesticide poisoning amongst adolescent girls and women in northern Tanzania

Elikana Lekei  1 , Aiwerasia V Ngowi  2 , Jones Kapeleka  3 , Leslie London  4
Affiliations

Acute pesticide poisoning amongst adolescent girls and women in northern Tanzania

Elikana Lekei et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Acute pesticide poisoning (APP) is reported to affect community health worldwide but its burden in Tanzania is unknown particularly in women. This study examines APP involving adult females and adolescent girls 10 to 19 years in 3 regions of Tanzania which are famous for coffee and vegetable production.

Methods: Over the period of 12 months, health facility-based surveillance for cases of APP was implemented in 10 Tanzanian healthcare facilities in 2006.

Results: The study identified 108 APP cases of whom 31 (28.7%) occurred amongst adolescent girls. Suicide was the leading poisoning circumstances (60.2%) and the most vulnerable women were 20-29 years old who comprised 38.4% of all cases with suicide as circumstance. Organophosphates (OPs), zinc phosphide, paraquat and endosulfan were common amongst known reported poisoning agents. The annual APP incidence, mortality and Case Fatality Rate for women were 5.1/100,000, 0.2/100,000 and 3.7/100, respectively.

Conclusion: APP amongst women in Tanzania is common and this call for diverse preventive interventions to reduce poisoning incidents.

Keywords: Acute pesticide poisoning; Adolescent girls & women; Northern Tanzania.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Lekei EE, Ngowi AVF, London L. Under-reporting of acute pesticide poisoning in Tanzania: Modelling results from two cross-sectional studies. Environ Health. 2016;15(1):118. doi: 10.1186/s12940-016-0203-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mrema JE, Ngowi AV, Kishinhi SS, et al. Pesticide exposure and health problems among female horticulture Workers in Tanzania. Environ Health Insights. 2017;11:1178630217715237. doi: 10.1177/1178630217715237. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jensen HK, Konradsen F, Jørs E, et al. Pesticide use and self-reported symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning among aquatic farmers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. J Toxicol. 2011; Article ID 639814. 10.1155/2011/639814. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Konradsen F. Acute pesticide poisoning a global public health problem. Dan Med Bull. 2007;54:58–59. - PubMed
    1. Dalvie MA, Sosan MB, Africa A, et al. Environmental monitoring of pesticide residues from farms at a neighboring primary and pre-school in the Western Cape in South Africa. Sci Total Environ. 2014;466-467C:1078–1084. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.07.099. - DOI - PubMed