Effects and risks of using chemical poisons on human health
Introduction :
Although the control of harmful factors with the use of pesticides is beneficial and necessary in the agricultural sector, neglecting and excessive use of pesticides causes significant damage to living organisms and causes disease and death in humans.
These problems are caused by direct and indirect human contact with pesticides. People who come into direct contact with these chemicals are most at risk. These people include farmers and their families, and workers who work in the agricultural sector or in poison factories. have.
The first point of contact of the poison in humans is the skin, as soon as the body is exposed to the poison, the poison is absorbed in the body or remains only in the skin without being absorbed. Absorption of pesticides in the body can cause health problems. become human Problems such as eye irritation, respiratory problems and acute poisoning that may lead to death. If toxins are not absorbed and remain on the skin, skin allergies occur.
Indirect contact with chemical poisons is caused by eating foods that have been permeated with pesticides. This can increase the amount of toxic substances in the human body. The human body has several regulatory systems, these regulatory systems cause All parts of the body show a certain reaction in response to external stimuli. This type of regulation is known as self-sustainability and occurs for all physical processes without awareness when the body is unable to regulate due to environmental conditions (too much heat or cold) or internal conditions (disease or poisoning). Unusual symptoms and diseases appear. Therefore, the signs and symptoms of pesticide poisoning are often similar to different types of disease complications, for example: headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are common symptoms of the disease that occur in different conditions. The self-stability of the body becomes imbalanced by the external or internal reaction of the body to the stimuli, which depends on the internal nature of the stimulus and also on the amount and duration of the impact of stress, when the stimulation is too much or for a long time, self-stability and self-regulation cannot be achieved. maintained or restored and the disease appears at this time. The symptoms of chemical poisoning are often similar to those caused by biological agents such as bacteria or viruses.
How do chemical toxins affect human health?
Chemical poisons work by changing the speed of various body activities, increasing them (increasing heart rate and sweating) or decreasing them (complete cessation of breathing). For example, people who are exposed to Malathion insecticide experience a lot of sweating. This phenomenon occurs as a result of a series of physiological events in the body, which is a response to the chemicals introduced into the body. as a result :
1- This biochemical change leads to cellular change (increased neural activity)
2-Cellular change causes physiological changes that the symptoms of poisoning are observed or felt in specific physiological systems of the body (organs or body systems).
Depending on the specific biochemical mechanism, an identical activity may have very wide effects in the body, or it may cause limited changes in physiological activity in a specific area of the body. For example, malathion poison inactivates an enzyme that is the link between nerves.
toxicity
Toxicity is a general term and includes harmful effects caused by pesticides. These harmful effects can include a group of simple symptoms such as headache, nausea or severe symptoms such as coma, seizures and even death. mostly
Poisonings caused by toxins are curable if treated quickly and do not cause permanent damage, but a full recovery may occur in the long term. Pesticides can affect a specific system and organ in the body, or they may show their adverse effects on a set of body organs.
Sometimes poisoning is divided into other groups based on the effect on different body systems.
Classification of poisoning
Affected organs
General symptoms of poisoning
respiratory
Nose, trachea and lungs
Burning, coughing, suffocation and shortness of breath
digestive
Stomach and intestines
Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
Internal
kidneys
Back pain, urea more or less than normal
Nervous
Brain and spinal cord
Headache, dizziness, behavioral disorders, depression and coma
bloody
Blood
Anemia (fatigue and weakness)
skin
Skin and eyes
Itching, redness and swelling
reproduction
Ovaries
Infertility and abortion
Due to the fact that the number of body reactions to chemical and non-chemical stimuli is low, certain signs and symptoms appear. In most cases, it is impossible to determine whether the disease was caused by chemical exposure (such as the influenza virus).
If people are exposed to toxins for a long time, their immune system weakens and they get sick quickly
Toxins can cause various types of cancer and skin allergies
Compiled by: Nazanin Bulgari
