ABSTRACT
Three fatalities from the accidental ingestion of methomyl, a carbamate pesticide, are reported. The methomyl had been stored in an unlabelled tin can and was accidentally used in preparing "roti," an Indian dish. The identification of the source of the poison through animal tests and further chemical identification is described. The lethal dose of methomyl was estimated to have been between 12 and 15 mg/kg body weight. (Summary)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Bread/poisoning , Insecticides/poisoning , Methomyl/poisoning , Bread/analysis , Accidents , Autopsy , Jamaica , Methomyl/analysis , ToxicologyABSTRACT
In a community of potters in Barbados where lead glazes traditionally have been used, a survey of 12 potters, 19 of their family members, and 24 controls revealed elevated blood lead levels in the potters, their family members, and the neighbours who used pottery for culinary purposes. Dust from the potters' homes and work areas contained lead in concentrations up tp 320,000 ppm. Pottery was found to have lead release levels up to 3,125 microgram/ml. Six people had upper extremity tremor associated with elevated blood lead levels. This survey demonstrates the risk of using lead glazes in pottery production to family members of potters as well as the potters themselves and emphasizes the need for surveillance of occupational hazards in developing countries. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Child , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Male , Female , Art , Lead/blood , Barbados , Cooking and Eating Utensils , Dust , Lead Poisoning/epidemiology , Lead Poisoning/etiology , Occupational Diseases/chemically induced , Occupational Diseases/epidemiology , RiskABSTRACT
In January 1976, 79 persons in Jamaica were acutely poisoned by the organophosphorous insecticide parathion. Seventeen died. Cases occurred in three episodes at separate locations, but all patients had consumed wheat flour from a single lot consisting of 5264 cotton bags. Parathion in concentrations of <1 to 9900 ppm was identified in flour from six bags in this lot: three had splash marks. The flour had been milled in Wertern Europe from European wheat, carried in trucks to a dockside warehouse, and loaded aboard ship after 2-5 days' storage. In Jamaica, the flour had moved from quayside to outbreak locations along separate routes through two import houses. Site inspections and review of shipping records suggested that the likely point of contamination was the European port, where foodstuffs and insectisides were stored in the same warehouse (AU)
