[Health survey on morbility and accidents in various productive agricultural sectors]

A health survey on morbidity and accidents was carried out on a population of 970 farmers in the district of Bari working in 6 different agricultural sectors. Data were gathered through a CNR-based (National Research Council) questionnaire administered by two occupation specialists. Results showed, first of all, that fertilizers are used in all agricultural sectors, while antiparasitic agents and herbicides are used in different ways according to the kind of culture. Horticulture is the sector where pesticides are more widely used as it is an intensive culture and has many cultivation cycles during the agricultural year. Interviewed subjects referred different pathologies, in particular arthrosis of spinal cord and limbs paresthesia. No significant direct association was observed between these pathologies and the sectors considered. Arthrosis of spinal cord seems to be related to exposure duration as it is well known that agricultural work implies unfavourable postures and exposure to adverse climatic conditions which favour the degeneration processes causing arthrosis. 19.5% of cases showed eczema. As far as accidents are concerned the situation is worrisome both for the frequency of accidents and the seriousness of lesions. This survey showed the need to investigate thoroughly the etiology of limbs paresthesia, eczema and accidents of farmers.