Effects of pesticide use on farmer’s health and the environment in Rong Kham district, Kalasin province

Abstract

The people of Thailand have adopted western concepts of agricultural production. This leads to the increasing use of pesticides, but their use is often incorrect. This has affected the health of farmers, leading to illnesses and residues in the environment. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of the use of pesticides on farmer’s health and the environment in Rong Kham district, Kalasin province. The samples used were 50 farmers. The tools used in data collection were a semi-structured questionnaire, and samplings of farmer’s blood, soils and vegetables in the fields to detect the level and the amount of pesticide contamination. The quantitative data were analyzed using frequency, percentage and mean. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that, in the soil samples from the fields, there were Chloropyrifos at 5.21 mg/kg, Glyphosate at 9.99 mg/kg, and Paraquat at 72.15 mg/kg. In field crops, 28 percent of pesticide residues in vegetables were at unsafe level and 4 percent were at toxic level. The blood tests indicated that 58 percent were at unsafe level and 28 percent were at risk level.