4
Pesticide Exposure and Impact
on Humans and Ecosystems
4.1 Introduction
Most of what we know regarding exposure to pesticides is from water and
food intake. Inhalation and other forms of air exposure have been less studied. This may be due to the fact that airborne exposures are infrequent or of
limited durations that vary with place and time of day. However, airborne
exposure is a principal means of exposure for particulate pesticides including dust and those applied as fne dust, such as sulfur, and exposure by the
air is a principal means of transmission of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus
that causes the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). The principal means
of safeguard is through use of masks and social distancing. Thus, the airborne route of exposure is gaining new attention.
4.2 Examples of Human Exposures
4.2.1 Paraquat
There is current interest in a potential link between exposure to paraquat, a leading herbicide in agricultural and home use weed control, with
Parkinson’s disease (Butcher, 2020). Due to its neurotoxicity, many countries
have banned paraquat; however, it is still widely used in the United States,
with estimates that the usage doubled from 2006 to 2016 (Butcher, 2020).
Exposure to paraquat and to trichloroethylene, a leading dry-cleaning agent
and drinking water contaminant, are suspects in the increase in Parkinson’s
disease, which has increased in case load by four times in the United States
in recent years—leading some to conclude that Parkinson’s disease is a
“man-made” disease.
DOI: 10.1201/9781003217602-4
57
Pesticide Exposure and Impact
on Humans and Ecosystems
4.1 Introduction
Most of what we know regarding exposure to pesticides is from water and
food intake. Inhalation and other forms of air exposure have been less studied. This may be due to the fact that airborne exposures are infrequent or of
limited durations that vary with place and time of day. However, airborne
exposure is a principal means of exposure for particulate pesticides including dust and those applied as fne dust, such as sulfur, and exposure by the
air is a principal means of transmission of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus
that causes the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). The principal means
of safeguard is through use of masks and social distancing. Thus, the airborne route of exposure is gaining new attention.
4.2 Examples of Human Exposures
4.2.1 Paraquat
There is current interest in a potential link between exposure to paraquat, a leading herbicide in agricultural and home use weed control, with
Parkinson’s disease (Butcher, 2020). Due to its neurotoxicity, many countries
have banned paraquat; however, it is still widely used in the United States,
with estimates that the usage doubled from 2006 to 2016 (Butcher, 2020).
Exposure to paraquat and to trichloroethylene, a leading dry-cleaning agent
and drinking water contaminant, are suspects in the increase in Parkinson’s
disease, which has increased in case load by four times in the United States
in recent years—leading some to conclude that Parkinson’s disease is a
“man-made” disease.
DOI: 10.1201/9781003217602-4
57