US EPA

1383537 

Technical Report 

Personal observations of acute pesticide poisoning cases 

Data, O 

1971 

PESTAB/76/1674 

Toxicol 

78-84; 1971 

spa 

PESTAB. From records kept at the Toxicology Center in Cordoba (Argentina) since July, 1967 the number of poisoning cases attributable to pesticides has been on the increase. Of a total of 1,425 cases, 163 were from pesticides, of which 86 were of the male sex, accidental causes accounting for 111 cases, suicides for 50, and homicides for one. Chlorinated pesticides were involved in 95 cases, inorganic chemicals (thallium, cyanides, arsenic, etc.) in 46, organophosphates in 18, and botanicals in 4. In the organophosphate group, three deaths were caused by parathion. All pesticide poisonings in children of pre-school age were accidental. The largest group of suicidal patients were girls between the ages of 14 and 16. In the treatment of organophosphate poisoning, care must be taken to continue treatment for a sufficiently long period, since deaths have sometimes occurred from premature discontinuation. Singular success was experienced in the use of chlorpromazine to control hyperexcitability in the patient.