Research

The Pesticide Exposure & Illness Surveillance Report summarizes information gathered from calls made to the Illinois Poison Center for human exposure to pesticides through the National Poison Data System (NPDS). Starting with data collected in 2018, this report includes demographic characteristics of the persons exposed, reasons for exposure, temporal and spatial patterns, and clinical outcomes. NPDS allows for near real-time capture of data since all 55 US poison centers (PCs) automatically upload their case data to NPDS. The IPC database is a compilation of all the calls received by center staff during the year. Based on the analysis, pesticide exposures continue to commonly occur in Illinois, with most exposures occurring within residences through ingestion. Furthermore, exposures at the workplace occur principally through the inhalational and dermal routes. Surveillance of pesticide exposures is fragmented and captured by many different data systems. A centralized repository with mandatory reporting would also be useful in informing prevention and intervention efforts.

• From 2018-2021, the number of Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls involving human exposures to pesticides decreased by nearly 17% (n=2,152 in 2018 to n=1,793 in 2021).
• 48% of people exposed to pesticides in Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls were under the age of 5
• Approximately 1/3 of all work-related exposures identified in Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls occurred in adults 25-34 years of age
• From 2018-2021, 296 exposures were of moderate severity, 16 major severity, and 4 resulted in death.

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The Agricultural Vehicle Crash Surveillance Report summarizes information gathered from police accident reports (PARs; also referred to as police crash reports) reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the Illinois Crash Information System (CIS). Starting with data collected in 2018, this report includes common descriptors and reasons for crashes, vehicle-specific data for agricultural vehicles involved in crashes, demographic characteristics of people involved in agricultural-related vehicle crashes, and temporal and spatial patterns using the CIS. Based on this analysis, agricultural-related vehicle crashes are common in Illinois, with reported crashes widely distributed across the state. Most crashes occurred during months when planting (May/June) and harvesting (September to November) occur, demonstrating seasonality in collision incidents. Additionally, workdays saw higher crash totals compared to weekends, with Monday through Wednesday seeing the highest crashes. While the number of agricultural-related crashes accounts for a small subset of the total number of crashes seen in Illinois, these incidents may be underreported, and the severity of these types of crashes may also be greater due to the nature of the vehicles or machinery involved. Therefore, greater surveillance efforts are vital to comprehensively describe agriculture vehicle crash characteristics, including their prevalence and severity.

• From 2018 to 2023, the total number of crashes involving agricultural vehicles decreased from 622 in 2018 to 501 in 2020 and 2023, with a slight increase seen in 2021 (n=518).
• The point of first contact was the front of agricultural vehicles in 12.2% of crash cases compared to 20.8% of non-agricultural vehicles, indicating that many of the collisions involve the agricultural vehicle getting rear-ended by a second vehicle.
• The months with the highest instances of crashes were September (10.4%), October (16.3%), November (12.0%), and June (10.8%).

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