"Tim Tyler" wrote in message ...
In uk.rec.gardening Oz wrote:
: Tim Tyler writes
:In uk.rec.gardening Oz wrote:
:: Tim Tyler writes

::By contrast - for many pesticides - the compensation accrues to the
::those in the supply chain - who can generate more produce - and the
::health cost is borne by consumers.
:
:: 1) There is no direct health cost, due to the approvals testing.
:
:So you claim - yet pesticides kill thousands anually.

: I don't think so.
: Please offer a .gov source from a first world country useage to show
: this where it's not misuse.

I should think pesticides killing people is - by definition - a misuse.

Here's a study giving some concrete figures regarding the extent of the
problem:

``Acute pesticide poisoning is an important cause of morbidity and
mortality worldwide. It has been estimated that around three million
severe cases of acute pesticide poisoning occur each year with some
220,000 deaths. Ninety-five percent of fatal pesticide poisonings occur
in developing countries.''

- http://www.sums.ac.ir/IJMS/9934/abdollahi9934.html

I think you really ought to read the websites you quote

Introduction
"Acute pesticide poisoning is an important cause of morbidity and mortality
worldwide. It has been estimated that around three million severe cases of
acute pesticide poisoning occur each year with some 220,000 deaths.
Ninety-five percent of fatal pesticide poisonings occur in developing
countries"

At this point you stopped your quote. But the next bit is far more
interesting

"There is a diversity of farming operations in Iran with more than 500
different pesticide compounds available for agricultural use. In our
previous study it was indicated that pesticides are the third most common
cause of poisoning and the principal cause of poisoning-related mortality in
Iran.2 There is also evidence of chronic occupational exposure to pesticides
in pesticide manufacturing factories as well as instances of acute
toxicity.3-5 For these reasons, this retrospective study was undertaken to
determine the extent and mortality of pesticide-related poisoning and to
assess the effects of variables such as age, season, sex and agent on
poisoning frequency."
So actually these are not consumers, these are producers and people working
in the manufacture
Working our way down the page we come across
"A total of 700 pesticide poisoning cases referred to either Loghman-Hakim
Hospital or reported to the TDPIC concerning the period between April 1,
1995 to September 21, 1997 were identified. In 65 instances, calls were made
to the TDPIC concerning patients who were subsequently referred to
Loghman-Hakim Hospital after receiving first-aid management such as
induction of vomiting, dilution of ingested stomach contents by water or
milk, etc. Cases included a variety of intentional (n=665, 93%), accidental
(n=39, 5.6%), occupational (n=9, 1.3%) and criminal (n=1, 0.1%) instances.
All cases in children, (n=36, 64%) were accidental. All occupational cases
occurred in workers at pesticide factories. Of 700 cases of pesticide
poisoning, 92% (n=644) occurred in adults. Overall, there were 365 females
(52%) and 335 males (48%). Among adults , 59.43%(n=383, 95% confidence
interval=59.39%-59.47%) were married and the remainder 40.57% (n=261, 95%
confidence interval=40.53%-40.61%) were unmarried and hence significantly
different (p0.01). The overall married to unmarried ratio was 1.5. The most
common route of pesticide exposure was by ingestion followed by dermal
absorption and inhalation. The highest frequency of poisoning (32%) was
found in the age range of 20-30 years (Fig. 1). One-third of patients
referred to Loghman-Hakim Hospital were from outside Tehran. The frequency
of pesticide poisoning was greater in spring (39%) and summer (35%) than
other times of the year. Sixty percent of cases were graded as mild, 27% as
moderate, and 13% as severe poisoning. In the majority of instances (85%),
patients presented to the hospital 6 to 10 hours after exposure. The
majority of cases (55%) were hospitalized for one day only. Sweating, slow
pulse, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and respiratory difficulties were
the most common clinical features of admission. In most cases, incorporating
all of the ingestion cases, lavage was instituted as the first therapeutic
step in hospital management. Ipecac syrup was never used. Frequencies of
poisoning and fatal outcomes by different types of pesticides are shown in
Table 1. Organophosphates were the most common cause of poisoning (52%)
followed by unknown compounds (20%), carbamates (12%), fumigants including
Al or Zn phosphide (8%), rodenticides (4%), herbicides (3%) and
organochlorines (1%). The overall mortality in this study was 7%, with 61%
being due to organophosphates followed by unknown pesticides (22%) and Al/Zn
phosphide (6%)."

Somehow you neglected to mention that 93% of those cases mentioned were
intentional. Indeed the page then goes on to say

"The high frequency of poisoning with pesticides revealed in the present
study supports our previous report.2 As indicated in the present study,
self-poisoning by pesticides in the age range of 20-30 years old is most
common, with a higher frequency in women, and a preponderance of married to
unmarried women. This might be due to social or familial problems. Most of
the self-poisoning instances with pesticides were among those who use poison
occupationally and therefore had easy access to such poisons. Although no
significant relation was found between poisoning events and socio-economic
status, it is, however, assumed that pesticides are the modality of choice
for low income strata in attempted suicide"


Perhaps you would like to explain how the fact that people commiting suicide
in the third world use pesticides because they are cheap makes these
products dangerous to people eating vegetables in the UK?

Jim Webster