**5. Conclusion**

*Emerging Contaminants*

**4. Discussion**

*Complete/incomplete.*

**Figure 4.**

*\**

followed by complete/incomplete elementary school (334), complete/incomplete high school (103), illiteracy (28), and higher education (8). **Figure 4** addresses the

*Percentage by schooling of confirmed cases by pesticides poisoning in the state of Bahia from 2007 to 2017.* 

The use of pesticides is a serious problem for human health and the environment. Brazil, in turn, increased the consumption of pesticides in agricultural sectors and insect vector control programs. With these determining factors, the number of records of human poisoning by pesticides is increasing [3, 14]. The release of pesticides in 2019 by the government of Brazil totaled, until July, 290 active ingredients. Despite these alarming decisions, the present study refers to a retrospective study in the state of Bahia (2007 to 2017). At the time, there was still such a large number of licenses to use these compounds. However, this information does not make it any less relevant, as the number of pesticides released and cases of

According to data from the main cities in the state of Bahia, the largest number of cases of pesticide poisoning occurred in Salvador, Juazeiro, Feira de Santana, and Paulo Afonso. The findings of the present study suggest that males are the main victims of pesticide poisoning in the state of Bahia, with about 65% of cases confirmed in the period studied, which corroborates those of Rebelo et al., (2011) and Matos, (2013), who found that males represented a higher percentage of pesticide poisoning. This data is directly linked to the figure of the man in the handling and use of pesticides in agricultural work, thus being more exposed to these chemicals [8, 10, 11] Regarding the age range, the most affected are concentrated mainly between 20 and 39 years (51%), followed by aged 40 to 59 years (24%). According to these data, the number of pesticide poisonings is increasing mainly in individuals of economically

The results referring to the area of residence (urban, rural, peri-urban, and ignored) in the state of Bahia, demonstrate an important aspect mainly between the rural and urban areas, in which the urban obtained a percentage of 56% of confirmed cases and the rural (41%). It is worth mentioning that the number of confirmed cases in agricultural (rural) regions can be even higher. However, structural problems in health services hamper the efficiency of services, actions, and even the notifications of these individuals. According to LONDON, (2012), these problems have been previously reported, which reappear in the present work demonstrating that they persist, and that is necessary more effective administrative action by the health sectors

percentage by the education of the aforementioned data.

reported poisoning were already alarming.

active age groups, as previously described [14, 15].

to change and prevent this situation.

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The results of the present study of exogenous poisoning by pesticides show that there was an increase in reported and confirmed cases in the state of Bahia from 2007 to 2017, mainly from the year 2011. The health regions most affected were Salvador, Feira de Santana, Juazeiro, and Paulo Afonso that cover other respective municipalities in which the affected individuals reside. According to the epidemiological profile of the risk group with the highest percentages of confirmed cases, the male sex, the age groups of 20 to 39 and 40 to 59 years old, individuals with low schooling, and individuals living in the urban area are the most expressive. However, it is worth mentioning that these data are directly related to deficiencies in the structuring of the health system and the registration of notifications in the rural area when compared to the urban area.

Finally, it is suggested to expand research on the topic in the investigated state, as well as in other states in the region, in order to assess the causes of these pesticide poisonings, besides to encouraging the training of health professionals to carry out the diagnosis, clinical notification, and treatment of the individual affected by pesticide poisoning. Also, it is extremely important to develop and strengthen public policies with surveillance actions to reduce the indiscriminate use of pesticides and, thus, improve the health promotion of the population and the environment.
