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Paraquat dichloride |
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, burning pain in mouth, throat and upper abdomen, mouth/throat ulceration, concentrate of product is extremely irritating to skin and eyes.
Inhalation of spray mist may lead to sore throat, husky voice and epistaxis, as a result of local irritation.
Giddiness, headache, fever, diarrhoea and myalgia
Proteinuria, haematuria, pyrexia, azotemia followed by oliguria/anuria
Confirmatory test:
- Colorimetric Test to identify paraquat in urine.
- Spectrophotometric method for paraquat in blood and urine.
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Remove the person from the contaminated environment.
In case of (a) skin contact – Remove all contaminated clothings and immediately wash with lot of water and soap; (b) Eye contamination – Wash the eyes with plenty of cool and clean water; (c) Inhalation – Carry the person to the open fresh air, loosen the clothings around neck and chest, and (d) Ingestion
Medical aid: Take the patient to the doctor/Primary Health Centre immediately along with the original container, leaflet and label. |
Perform gastric lavage. Give Fuller’s Earth (an adosrbent) 300 ml of 30% aqueous suspension. Give mannitol 200 ml of 20% solution or 30 g of magnesium sulphate in 200 ml of water via gastric tube. Fuller’s earth should be given as early as possible.
If Fuller’s earth is not available, give Bentonite 1 litre of 7.5% suspension or activated charcoal 50 to 100 g dissolved in 200 ml of water.
Maintain a fluid balance chart. Give adequate oral or IV fluids.
If acute renal failure is present, peritoneal dialysis or haemodialysis is indicated.
If respiratory difficulty is present delay the use of oxygen as long as possible, because oxygen is harmful to lungs in paraquat poisoning.
Sorbitol also 1-3 g of body weight to a maximum of 150 g is given to adult and 1-1.5 g of body weight for children up to 50 g. |
