Brief Report: Acute Non-Occupational Pesticide Exposures Cases Reported to the Texas Department of Agriculture (2015-2021).

Background: Unintentional exposure to pesticides can occur during an occupational or non-occupational situation. Occupational exposures in Texas are reported by law. In contrast, non-occupational exposures are sometimes overlooked, and very little information on these exposures is available. This study describes the magnitude and characteristics of acute non-occupational pesticide exposures reported in Texas during 2015-2021. Methods: Data were obtained from the Texas Department of Agriculture's internal database to establish geographic and temporal distributions of the cases. Cases were classified based on the strength of evidence following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the attributes of the reported cases and the reported health effects. Results: A total of 313 non-occupational pesticide exposure incidents were identified; 228 cases had enough strength of evidence to support an association between exposure and the health effects. Insecticides were the type of pesticide with the most reports (50.4%, n=115). Cameron and Hidalgo counties had the highest incidences of pesticide exposure cases, 0.58 and 0.48 per 100,000 population, respectively, and among these counties, malathion was the active ingredient with the most reports. However, overall, naphthalene was the most reported active ingredient, involved in 12.3% (n=28) of the incidents. Most of the cases were classified as low illness severity (82.9%, n=189), with headaches, eye irritation, and dyspnea being the most reported symptoms, and only 21% (n=49) of the people exposed seeking medical attention after the incidents. Conclusions: Texas had a low incidence (0.16 per 100,000 population) of acute nonoccupational pesticide exposure cases during 2015-2021. Incidence of exposures was three times higher for residents of Cameron and Hidalgo counties, compared with the incidence for the entire state from 2015-2021. Findings of this study highlight areas where interventions could be focused to reduce pesticide exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]