Poisoning by carbamate pesticides

In recent years the number of carbamate pesticides registered for use in New South Wales has increased. Some of the newer carbamates are very toxic and have cholinergic properties similar to those of the organic phosphates, though the effect is of much shorter duration. Because of this, separate tests for plasma and red blood cell levels of cholinesterase should be conducted as soon as possible after exposure in order to obtain meaningful results. A typical case of carbamate poisoning is described in which both plasma and red blood cell cholinesterase values were lowered. The substitution of a liquid pesticide formulation for the original powder formulation has reduced the operator inhalation hazard in the case of methomyl.