The weedkiller paraquat for sale in Bangkok, amidst a controversy over whether it should be … [+]
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It’s clear that agrochemicals that are highly lethal to insects and weeds can also be extremely dangerous to people. And much of that human harm involves self-poisoning.
Most deaths by suicide are carried out impulsively, using means that are close at hand. And most survivors of suicide attempts don’t try again. Thus, reduced availability of highly lethal items, from guns to the most dangerous pesticides, leads to reduced suicides.
Unsurprisingly, self-poisonings by pesticide are more common in places where they’re less regulated. After the very lethal weedkiller paraquat was introduced in 1962, human deaths were concentrated in Western Europe – then spread out as paraquat was brought to new markets.
The problem is most persistent in rural parts of South…