doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2025.16.1.1512
Pesticide Intensity in Rice Production in Central Thailand: Implications for Environmental and Health Risks
Amornrat Waiyaphat1
,
Suphaphat Kwonpongsagoon1,2,*
- 1Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400 Thailand
- 2Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), OPS, MHESI, Thailand
- Manuscript receivedSeptember 11, 2024
- revisedOctober 3, 2024
- acceptedOctober 10, 2024
- publishedFebruary 25, 2025
Abstract
This study aims to assess the pesticide intensity in rice production in central Thailand by estimating the pesticide application rates, and the total mass loads of pesticide active ingredients, including screening pesticide contamination and effects on the surrounding environment and health risks. Data were collected using face-to-face in-depth interviews with farm owners, tenants and pesticide applicators from August 2021 to July 2022. The findings revealed a wide range of 50 pesticide active ingredients used in the rice production process in the central region, with five pesticides, namely, propanil, glyphosate, 2,4-D, difenoconazole and propiconazole, being the most frequently used for all rice varieties. Although Thailand has banned paraquat and chlorpyrifos, since 2020, they were still used in rice fields of RD rice (RD41 and RD61), Pathum Thani rice, and other rice varieties. Because of the largest planting area, the RD rice var. received the greatest pesticide mass load compared with other rice varieties. Using selected key parameters of pesticide physicochemical properties can help to screen environmental contamination and exposure risks for the pesticides used in the area.
Keywords
- environmental
- health risks
- pesticide
- rice production
How to Cite
Amornrat Waiyaphat and Suphaphat Kwonpongsagoon, "Pesticide Intensity in Rice Production in Central Thailand: Implications for Environmental and Health Risks," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 73-80, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijesd.2025.16.1.1512
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).