Pesticide Handling Practices and Health Symptoms Among Smallholder Farmers in Rural Bangladesh

Background: The problem of unsafe pesticide-handling practices among smallholder farmers in Bangladesh is one of the primary concerns of the community population as it provokes both acute and chronic health hazards. Due to the increasing awareness, limited knowledge, lack of adequate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and unsafe storage and disposal remain. Aim of the study: To assess pesticide-handling practices, knowledge, and related health symptoms among smallholder farmers in rural Bangladesh and identify key factors influencing these practices. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study will be conducted in which 80 conveniently selected farmers of Kotalipara Upazila, district Gopalganj will be interviewed during the period from February 2022 to July 2025. A standardized questionnaire was employed to survey participants on socio-demographics, pesticide knowledge, handling practices such as PPE usage, storage and disposal as well self-reported symptoms of ill-health. The descriptive statistics were carried out by SPSS v26. Result: The sample population consisted of mostly men (80% with a mean age of 41.413.4 years old. The level of awareness regarding pesticide risks and protective measure was 47.5% and 51.3% respectively and 8.8% read label instruction routinely. There was low use of PPE with 26.3 having always used gloves and masks, 11.3 using goggles, and 10 wearing aprons. The most common ones were unsafe storage (82.5% on open shelves) and disposal (53.8% into water). There were acute health symptoms such as weakness (96.3%), skin irritation (95%), eye irritation (91.3%), diarrhea (87.5%), headache (88.8) and nausea (71.3%) that were brought about as a result of frequent pesticide application. It was only 20 percent who sought medical attention. Conclusion: In rural Bangladesh, the smallholder farmers have poor handling behavior on pesticides and this has led to prevalent acute health effects. Specific measures are needed to decrease the exposure and protect the health of farmers, such as organized training, encouraging the use of PPE, more stringent enforcement of the regulations.