Long-term Health Effec ts of Pesticides 261
Long-term Health Effects of Pesticides
Most pesticide poisoning comes from contact with pesticides over weeks,
months, or years, not from using them only once. People may not get sick from
pesticides until many years later. In adults, it can take 5, 10, 20, 30 years or
more to get sick from regular exposure. How long it takes for illness to show up
depends on many things (see page 321). In children, it usually takes less time.
Illness from pesticides can start in a baby before the baby is born, while the
mother is pregnant and in contact with pesticides.
When a person is exposed to pesticides over a long period of time, it is hard
to know if his health problems are caused by pesticides. Long-term exposure
may cause long-term harm, such as cancer, damage to the reproductive
system, to the liver, brain, and other parts of the body.
Many long-term effects of pesticides are hard to see because people in
farming areas are exposed to many different chemicals and because farm
workers may move from place to place.
When people get cancer and other diseases, doctors and scientists may
say the illness is due to chance, or to problems other than pesticides or
contamination. They may tell us we cannot blame pesticides or other toxic
chemicals. And sometimes people who sell pesticides or promote pesticide
use will lie about it because they do not want to be responsible for other
people’s health problems. They can say this because it is often impossible to
prove without a doubt that an illness which takes a long time to develop was
caused by a particular pesticide or other toxic chemical.
Juan worked in the banana plantations...
...and 10 years later, he developed cancer.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012