Profile of paraquat poisoning in bellary district- a retrospective study

Introduction: India has one of the largest agrarian societies in the world with the majority of the population dependent on agriculture both for income and survival. Agriculture as an occupation has seen a lot of technological advancements along with an increased use of chemicals for better agricultural returns. This inadvertent overexposure to chemicals has led to human morbidities and its complications. Among agricultural poisons, paraquat is found to be one of the common chemicals causing deaths among agriculturists. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in VIMS Bellary, Karnataka, India with the data collected from the postmortem report of the bodies brought in for autopsy with confirmation of poison involved based on chemical analysis reports issued by the forensic science laboratories. The study was a retrospective one done on 235 deaths due to paraquat poisoning. Results: In this study it was found out that male mortality was higher in comparison to females. The vulnerable or susceptible age group was found to be individuals aged between 41-50 years among the studied sample and those involved in the agricultural profession. Conclusion: The study gives us an understanding about the population and the occupation of the population in the region studied with respect to the chemical paraquat. It brings into focus the young and middle-aged productive group exposed to paraquat and hopefully can give directions for various preventive steps to be taken in future.