Pesticide use, agricultural outputs, and pesticide poisoning deaths in Japan

Figures & data

Figure 1. The increasing problem of paraquat poisoning deaths in Japan during the early 1980s. Adapted from Naito and Yamashita [16].

Table 1. Registration status of OP and carbamate insecticides in Japan by WHO Hazard classes [26].

WHO Class	Registration Status	Number	OP insecticide name (registered year, lapsed year)	Number	Carbamate insecticide name (registered year, lapsed year)
Class Ia Extremely hazardous	Registered	0		0
	Lapsed	4	EPN (1951, 2019), Ethoprophos (1993, 2002), Parathion (1952, 1969), Parathion-methyl (1952, 1969)	0
	Never registered	9	Chlorethoxyfos, Chlormephos, Disulfoton, Mevinphos, Phorate, Phosphamidon, Sulfotep, Tebupirimfos, Terbufos	2	Aldicarb, Oxamyl
Class Ib Highly hazardous	Registered	3	Cadusafos (2000), Isoxathion (1972), Methidathion (1967)	1	Methomyl (1970)
	Lapsed	5	Dichlorvos (1957, 2012), Mecarbam (1960, 1987), Monocrotophos (1979, 2004), Thiometon (1960, 2002), Vamidothion (1963, 2002)	3	Butoxycarboxim (1979, 1988), Ethiofencarb (1982, 2007), Furathiocarb (1995, 2006)
	Never registered	16	Azinphos-ethyl, Azinphos-methyl, Bromophos-ethyl, Chlorfenvinphos, Coumaphos, Demeton-S-methyl, Dicrotophos, Edifenphos, Famphur, Fenamiphos, Heptenophos, Methamidophos, Omethoate, Oxydemeton-methyl, Propetamphos, Triazophos	5	Butocarboxim, Carbofuran, Formetanate, Methiocarb, Thiofanox
Class II Moderately hazardous	Registered	13	Acephate (1973), Chlorpyrifos (1971), Cyanophos (1966), Diazinon (1955), Dimethoate (1961), Fenitrothion (1961), Fenthion (1960), Phenthoate (1963), Phosalone (1965), Pirimiphos-methyl (1976), Profenofos (1986), Prothiofos (1975), Trichlorfon (1957)	8	Alanycarb (1993), Benfuracarb (1986), Carbaryl (1960), Carbosulfan (1983), Fenobucarb (1968), Fenothiocarb (1986), Isoprocarb (1966), Thiodicarb (1988)
	Lapsed	2	Ethion (1963, 2005), Pyridaphenthion (1973, 2009)	0
	Never registered	11	Anilofos, Azamethiphos, Bromophos, Formothion, Methacrifos, Naled, Phosmet, Phoxim, Piperophos, Pyraclofos, Quinalphos	5	Bendiocarb, Metolcarb, Pirimicarb, XMC, Xylylcarb

Registration source: [24,25].

Figure 2. Use of (A) OP and carbamate insecticides from 2000 to 2018 and (B) paraquat and diquat herbicides in Japan from 1966 to 2019.

Figure 3. Deaths from pesticides in Japan 1968 to 2019. Source: Vital Statistics of Japan [26].

Figure 4. Agricultural output in Japan from 1995 to 2016 for selected paddy, vegetable and orchard crops (source FAOStat; http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC).

Figure 5. Trends in the sale of paraquat and number of deaths by non-OP/carbamate insecticides poisoning in Japan, 1979–2019.

Table 2. Prais-Winsten regression analyses of the associations between pesticide sale or use (kiloton) and mortality rate per 1,000,000 in Japan.

	b	(95% CI)	p
(A) Mortality rates by pesticide poisoning (1968–2019)
Paraquat and diquat sale	1.63	(−0.77, 4.03)	0.18
Diquat sale	−1.48	(−5.81, 2.85)	0.50
Paraquat sale	1.92	(−0.42, 4.27)	0.11
(B) Mortality rates by non-OP/carbamate pesticide poisoning (1979–2019)
Paraquat and diquat sale	2.51	(−0.76, 5.79)	0.13
Diquat sale	−1.28	(−5.72, 3.16)	0.56
Paraquat sale	2.55	(−0.32, 5.42)	0.080
(C) Mortality rates by herbicides or fungicides poisoning (2000–2018)
Herbicides and fungicides use	0.06	(0.03, 0.10)	0.002
(D) Mortality rates by OP/carbamate insecticides poisoning (2001–2018)
OP/carbamate insecticides use	0.21	(0.08, 0.35)	0.003

Note. Models were controlled for year and unemployment rate. CI: confidence interval. 95% CIs that do not include zero for b are highlighted in bold.

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