Public health effects of pesticides used in pest management and precautions for the protection

Pesticides, which are widely used not only for weed and pest control efforts in agricultural sector but also preservatives and antifouling for factory products, consumer products such as household disinfectants and food packaging and storage operations, can be detected both from the basic components of the environment and all living tissues. Due to the toxic effects, they can lead to many chronic irreversible diseases such as cancer, defective births, nervous system disorders, endocrine system disorders including diabetes. Not only the risk groups in the community including children, the elderly, pregnant women, and particularly the agricultural sector workers, who have high risk of exposure to pesticides, but also all the individuals in the community must be protected against the harmful effects of pesticides. For this reason, when fighting against the pests, integrated pest management principles, which primarily targets not damaging the humans and community as well as the environment and other organisms, should be based on. TAF Prev Med Bull 2014; 13(5.000): 405-412