Pesticide management and child labour prevention Manejo de

Pesticide management and child labour prevention Manejo de plaguicidas y prevención del trabajo infantil Gestion des pesticides et prévention du travail des enfants Gestão de pesticidas e prevenção do trabalho infantil Управление использованием пестицидов и предотвращение детского труда …. coming soon in Arabic

HOW ARE CHILDREN EXPOSED TO PESTICIDES? In many countries, children are engaged in agricultural activities, whether as child labour, young workers of legal age for employment, or helping out their families. The agricultural sector: • • is the largest employer of children worldwide, accounting for nearly 60% of child labour; and has the highest concentration of hazardous child labour (59%). Workers in agriculture, including children, use or can be exposed to toxic pesticides from a variety of sources. Click for one country's example. . . Children can face direct and indirect exposure to pesticides. . . let's see how.

DIRECT EXPOSURE Child labourers can be directly exposed to pesticides in a wide range of situations: Flash File InputGraphicsFinalCWD_1281_10. swf Roll the mouse over the images to read more.

INDIRECT EXPOSURE Child labourers can also be indirectly exposed to pesticides in many ways: Flash File InputGraphicsFinalCWD_1281_12. swf Roll the mouse over the images to read more.

CHILDREN ARE MORE VULNERABLE THAN ADULTS TO PESTICIDE EXPOSURE The International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management recognizes children as one of the vulnerable groups for pesticide exposure. Children pass through critical stages of development and are typically more vulnerable than adults to risks associated with pesticides. The reasons are both biological and behavioural.

BEHAVIOURAL REASONS Behaviour can make children particularly vulnerable to pesticide exposure. Flash File InputGraphicsFinalCWD_1281_29. swf Roll the mouse over the image to discover typical behaviours that put children at risk.

BIOLOGICAL REASONS From a biological point of view, a number of factors increase children's exposure and/or their vulnerability to the chemicals. Children consume more food for their size Children are shorter than adults Children drink more water for their size Children breathe more rapidly than adults Children have faster metabolisms Children have a greater skin surface to size ratio Children's minds and bodies pass through critical stages of development that pesticides can disrupt

HOW CAN PESTICIDE EXPOSURE AFFECT A CHILD'S HEALTH? Children exposed to pesticides may suffer acute and/or chronic harm to their health. Acute exposure is intense and brief. It may cause short-term effects, including: • • Headaches. Dizziness. Muscle twitching. Weakness. Tingling sensations. Nausea. Blurred vision. Gastro intestinal disorders. Low-dose and long-term exposure occurs over a period of time. It may result in serious health effects, including: • Birth defects. • Learning disabilities. • Behavioural changes. • Organ damage. • Forms of cancer. • Asthma. • Reproductive health problems. TODAY FUTURE

IMPROVING PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT TO REDUCE CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE Awareness-raising and capacity-building at multiple levels Implementation of risk mitigation measures and appropriate application of restrictions Development and promotion of alternative pest and chemical management strategies Implementation of international controls governing pesticides Reducing children's exposure to pesticides Formulation and reinforcement of existing national legal frameworks Non-registration or cancellation of registration and phase-out of specific pesticides Data collection on children's (occupational) exposure to pesticides

FORMULATION AND REINFORCEMENT OF EXISTING NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORKS At national level, legislation should prevent the exposure of working children to hazardous pesticides. The use of pesticides by children should be included in national hazardous work lists for children under 18. Data on children’s exposure to pesticides should be collected and shared to inform the work activities prohibited for children.

Tasks undertaken by children at the time of acute pesticide poisoning: • • • cutting recently fumigated tobacco leaves; cutting tobacco leaves during or after rain; spraying using equipment in poor condition; applying fumigants in a closed environment; cutting grass; planting fumigated seeds; • • • mixing and preparing pesticides; applying pesticides and/or fertilizer by hand; entering recently fumigated fields; supervising agricultural tasks; harvesting cotton; and carrying pesticides. Poisoning of children also occurred as a result of: • eating and/or smoking without washing hands after exposure; and • eating and drinking contaminated food and water. Exacerbating conditions mentioned include: • lack of, or inappropriate use of personal protective equipment; and • lack of washing facilities when spraying.

DATA COLLECTION ON CHILDREN'S (OCCUPATIONAL) EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES In order to be able to assess risks and inform policy and mitigation strategies used in programming, governments should systematically collect data on poisoning incidents, types of pesticides used and patterns of use. Governments should ensure that age- and sexdisaggregated data on pesticide exposure and use are collected at workplace and community level and that these data are communicated to pesticide registration/approval bodies, and to policy- and decision-makers involved with the various aspects of pesticide regulation. How can health care workers do that? Click here to read an example. Health care workers should also document and report any cases of pesticide poisoning.

Popup Window Health care workers and a (national) reporting system § The country’s Ministry of Health has a pesticide programme that includes a national database capturing occupational acute pesticide poisonings, including of children aged five and above. § Health professionals are required to fill in a one-page report on all acute pesticide poisoning incidents. § Reports are sent to county and then provincial level to inform the design and implementation of prevention and control activities. § They are also entered into a database, and the Ministry disseminates related bulletins at national level. § Valuable information on child labourers' exposure is obtained from data disaggregated by factors such as sex, age, and type of crops and work tasks reported at the time of poisoning. § Information is collected, not only for children in formal employment, but also for children in informal and family-based activities where exposure is comparable.

NON-REGISTRATION OR CANCELLATION OF SPECIFIC REGISTRATIONS OF PESTICIDES Pesticide registrars can often obtain national information on children's participation in agriculture from the ministry of labour, which conducts labour force surveys and sometimes also child labour-specific surveys for the entire country or assessments for specific value chains.

AWARENESS-RAISING AND CAPACITY-BUILDING AT MULTIPLE LEVELS Governments Health workers School children Pesticide users and their families Teachers' colleges and agricultural vocational training institutes Strengthen capacities of extension agents and crop protection agents in protecting children from pesticides exposure, and institutionalize child labour prevention in training and extension manuals. Engage farmers in discussions on child labour in agriculture (e. g. through farmer field schools or rural radio listeners' clubs), suggesting what they as a parent can do to avoid it. Integrate protection of children from pesticides in the curricula of teachers' colleges and agricultural vocational training institutes. Encourage communities to develop their own by-laws to protect children from pesticides exposure and reduce child labour. A number of materials are available to raise awareness on pesticides.