Under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ), China Crop Protection Industry Association (CCPIA) established "Paraquat Product Stewardship Working Group' (hereinafter referred to as the "Working Group') in 2011. Syngenta, RedSun, Shandong Luba Chemical, CAC Group and several other paraquat enterprises joined the Group. The Working Group has increased success rate of paraquat poisoning treatment by setting emergency calls and training grassroots doctors and has reduced the incidence of paraquat poisoning by educating farmers on safe use of paraquat products. The Working Group has established the first corporate social responsibility system in the pesticide industry of China, setting a good example in the industry.
During 2011 to 2013, the Working Group mainly carried out the following work:
I. Setting two "poisoning emergency consultation hotlines', to provide poisoning treatment and consultation service:
Since the paraquat poisoning emergency calls were opened in August 2011, a total of 5,900 consultation calls on paraquat have been made by the end of June 2013, among which 2,667 are patient-related consultations.
II. Training on paraquat poisoning emergency treatments
From 2011 to the first half of 2013, the Working Group carried out 87 "paraquat poisoning emergency treatment trainings'. Over 15,000 people participated in the training, and 10,972 medical activated carbon portions, 10,077 urine detection kits for paraquat poisoning and 9,827 pamphlets of Guiding Principles on Paraquat Poisoning Diagnosis, Emergency Treatment and Hospital Treatment were issued. To increase the popularity of trainees, the Working Group mailed 22,846 medical activated carbon portions and 11,423 pamphlets of Guiding Principles on Paraquat Poisoning Diagnosis, Emergency Treatment to 11,432 city, county and township hospitals in 25 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) nationwide.
At the hospitals for statistics where the 6 consultant doctors work in the 6 provinces with larger agricultural usage amount of paraquat, all of the patients were transferred from other hospitals due to improper treatment at grassroots hospitals or other reasons, and most of them missed the best time for paraquat treatment, which makes the treatment very difficult. The 6 hospitals accepted and treated 2,499 such patents from 2010 to the first half of 2013. Their annual average cure rate and improvement rate can still achieve 55.5%.
III. Training on the safe and scientific use of paraquat
In 2012 and 2013, the Working Group organized about 940 trainings on the safe and scientific use of paraquat with the member enterprises' efforts. A total of 37,600 farmers and dealers participated in the training, and 35,000 sets of protection suits, 35,000 sets of face shields, 27,000 wall pictures on safe use of paraquat, 20,000 medical activated carbon portions, 500,000 pamphlets of Safe and Scientific Use Manual of Pesticides, and 300,000 pamphlets of Guiding Principles on Paraquat Poisoning Diagnosis, Emergency Treatment were issued.
IV. Research on the substitute for paraquat formulations
Shandong Luba Chemical Co., Ltd. has obtained the temporary registration for 50% soluble paraquat granules, and Nanjing RedSun Biochemical Co., Ltd. has obtained the formal registration for 20% paraquat GW.
Through the paraquat product stewardship of the Working Group, the paraquat poisoning and treatment situation has been improved. By strengthening such work as the training for paraquat poisoning emergency doctors and the training on safe use of paraquat for farmers, the number of paraquat suicides is decreasing and paraquat poisoning and treatment problem is gradually eased. The paraquat product stewardship led by CCPIA has been affirmed and supported by the government departments.