Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?

Literature highlights harmful effects of pesticides and untreated wastewater use on farmers' health but none of the studies explore the magnitude of deleterious health effects simultaneously. The objective of the study is to quantify pesticide and untreated wastewater induced health symptoms among v...

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Main Authors: Abedullah, A., Kouser, Shahzad, Alic, H.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75572
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author Abedullah, A.
Kouser, Shahzad
Alic, H.
author_browse Abedullah, A.
Alic, H.
Kouser, Shahzad
author_facet Abedullah, A.
Kouser, Shahzad
Alic, H.
author_sort Abedullah, A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Literature highlights harmful effects of pesticides and untreated wastewater use on farmers' health but none of the studies explore the magnitude of deleterious health effects simultaneously. The objective of the study is to quantify pesticide and untreated wastewater induced health symptoms among vegetable growers and to investigate which one is a bigger culprit. A sample of 830 vegetable growers was selected by stratified random sampling from three major vegetable growing districts of Pakistan's Punjab. A two stage estimation technique is employed to estimate unbiased health effects of vegetable growers after controlling for pesticide endogeneity. The results demonstrate that both untreated wastewater and pesticide quantities are responsible for acute symptoms, but comparison of their scaled coefficients indicates that wastewater is twofold responsible for acute symptoms than pesticide. To minimize these negative effects, a policy of untreated disposal of wastewater in peri-urban areas for crop production needs to be re-designed. The installation of a treatment plant by collecting pollution premium from untreated wastewater emitters seems to be the most sustainable and practically viable option. It is also observed that pesticide is contributing to farmers' acute symptoms; hence, awareness campaigns about judicious and safe use of pesticides may help to mitigate acute symptoms.
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spelling CGSpace755722023-03-18T10:03:54Z Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab? Abedullah, A. Kouser, Shahzad Alic, H. health food safety Literature highlights harmful effects of pesticides and untreated wastewater use on farmers' health but none of the studies explore the magnitude of deleterious health effects simultaneously. The objective of the study is to quantify pesticide and untreated wastewater induced health symptoms among vegetable growers and to investigate which one is a bigger culprit. A sample of 830 vegetable growers was selected by stratified random sampling from three major vegetable growing districts of Pakistan's Punjab. A two stage estimation technique is employed to estimate unbiased health effects of vegetable growers after controlling for pesticide endogeneity. The results demonstrate that both untreated wastewater and pesticide quantities are responsible for acute symptoms, but comparison of their scaled coefficients indicates that wastewater is twofold responsible for acute symptoms than pesticide. To minimize these negative effects, a policy of untreated disposal of wastewater in peri-urban areas for crop production needs to be re-designed. The installation of a treatment plant by collecting pollution premium from untreated wastewater emitters seems to be the most sustainable and practically viable option. It is also observed that pesticide is contributing to farmers' acute symptoms; hence, awareness campaigns about judicious and safe use of pesticides may help to mitigate acute symptoms. 2016-05-18 2016-06-05T08:57:02Z 2016-06-05T08:57:02Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75572 en Limited Access Informa UK Limited Abedullaha, Kouserb, S. and Alic, H. 2016. Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab? Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 22(4):941–957.
spellingShingle health
food safety
Abedullah, A.
Kouser, Shahzad
Alic, H.
Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title_full Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title_fullStr Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title_full_unstemmed Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title_short Pesticide or wastewater: Which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in Pakistan's Punjab?
title_sort pesticide or wastewater which one is a bigger culprit for acute health symptoms among vegetable growers in pakistan s punjab
topic health
food safety
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75572
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AT alich pesticideorwastewaterwhichoneisabiggerculpritforacutehealthsymptomsamongvegetablegrowersinpakistanspunjab