Pesticide exposure and associated acute health effects among smallholder farmers in Mbale district, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: The use of pesticides has increased during the past decades, increasing the risk of exposure to toxic pesticides among farmers especially in low and -middle-income countries (Cuenca et al., 2020). Farmers in Mbale experience acute health effects due to pesticide exposure. However, there is inadequate documentation and quantification on pesticide exposure and the acute health effects among smallholder farmers in the district. This study therefore aimed at assessing pesticide exposure and the acute health effects due to pesticide exposure among smallholder farmers in Mbale district. Methods: A cross-sectional study using quantitative data collection techniques was employed. A total of 576 smallholder farmers were selected using multistage sampling. Data was collected using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was descriptive and factors associated with pesticide exposure were determined using Modified Poisson regression, with robust standard errors. Prevalence ratios and their 95% CI were used as the measure of association, and variables with a p-value ≤ 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: The study revealed that 43.0% (176/409) of the smallholder farmers experienced high exposure to pesticides. Majority 80.9% (331/409) of the smallholder farmers experienced at least one acute health effect due to pesticide exposure with skin irritation, headache, nausea and dizziness being common. The socio-demographic factors and pesticide handling practices associated with pesticide exposure were sex, wearing rubber boots while handling pesticides, use of a cocktail of pesticides, use of crop pesticides to kill pests on domestic animals and in the farmers’ residence. The proportion of smallholder farmers that were highly exposed to pesticides was 55% lower among females (Adjusted PR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.31-0.67) compared to their male counterparts. The proportion of Smallholder farmers that experienced high pesticide exposure was 51% lower among smallholder farmers that wear rubber boots while applying pesticides (Adjusted PR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.34-0.71) compared to those that did not wear rubber boots. Conclusion: The study findings demonstrate that smallholder farmers in Mbale were highly exposed to pesticides and experienced acute health effects such as skin irritation, headache and dizziness among others. Being female and wearing rubber boots were protective of high pesticide exposure levels while using a cocktail of pesticides increased the risk of high pesticide exposure. Sensitizing farmers especially males and enforcing regulations on proper pesticide handling practices could further reduce the levels of pesticide exposure and in turn prevent/control the occurrence of associated health effects among smallholder farmers. Key words: Pesticides, pesticide exposure, smallholder farmers, acute health effects