Epidemiological Toxicology of Pesticide Exposure

Abstract

On behalf of the subcommittee on Pesticides, Permanent Commission, and International Association on Occupational Health, a workshop convened in Amsterdam to discuss epidemiological toxicology of pesticide exposure. Emphasis was put on long-term exposure to organochlorine and/or organophosphorous compounds The workshop emphasized the need for improving methods of research; phenomena for field study were suggested. It proposed some tentative guidelines for absorption of and response to DDT, aldrin-dieldrin and cholinesterase inhibitors to be used in occupational health programs. Occupational epidemiology appeared to provide essential information to estimate the risks of exposure of the general population. The workshop concluded that observations in workers so far have not yielded evidence that deviations in biological phenomena are likely to occur in the nonoccupationally exposed genera! populations.