Common Pesticides Used in Suicide Attempts Following the 2012 Paraquat Ban in Korea

Abstract

To determine the change in pesticides used during suicide attempts after the 2012 paraquat (PQ) ban, we evaluated the annual number of suicide attempts by pesticide ingestion between 2011 and 2014. We extracted demographic, clinical outcome, and pesticide class data from the medical records of 1,331 patients that attempted suicide by pesticide ingestion. Pesticides were sorted into 5 groups: herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, other pesticides, and combined pesticides. Each group was subdivided into various classes based on publications by the respective Resistance Action Committees. The chi-square test for trends was used to compare the annual incidence of categorical variables. The total number of suicide attempts decreased each year, from 399 in 2011 to 245 in 2014. Simultaneously, PQ ingestion decreased from 253 patients in 2011 to 60 in 2014. The proportion of PQ to pesticides also decreased from 63.4% in 2011 to 24.5% in 2014. Furthermore, the rate of decrease in the proportion of PQ to all herbicide categories increased by calendar year. In conclusion, there is a significant trend in increased annual number of suicides and proportion of suicides using glyphosates and glufosinates versus total herbicides. However, the number of suicide attempts using glyphosate and glufosinate is lower than that using PQ. The ratio of persons completing suicide to those attempting suicide after pesticide ingestion has decreased every year after the PQ ban.