Acute Polyneuropathy after Poisoning by a New Organophosphate Insecticide

Abstract

Polyneuropathy is a recognized complication of poisoning by some organophosphate plasticizers and insecticides.1 , 2 The hazards of organophosphate pesticides for human beings have been limited by screening of candidate compounds and exclusion of those that cause neuropathy in hens given median lethal doses. However, there have been a few reported patients with neuropathy due to various organophosphate pesticides — Mipafox,3 Leptophos,4 Trichlorphon (Chlorophos or Dipterex),5 and Trichloronate (Phytosol).6 We report here 10 isolated cases of acute polyneuropathy seen over three years in Sri Lanka. All 10 developed after poisoning by formulations of technical-grade Tamaron, whose main ingredient is methamidophos (0,S . . .