ABSTRACT
Currently, OPs are popular chemicals used as household and agricultural insecticides. Their wide distribution as industrial chemicals allows access to the general population. They are conveniently used for suicidal attempts and are found as crop contaminantsb and in accidental occupational exposure. Consequently, in the United States, they accounted for over 10,000 cases of exposure. About 1% of these cases resulted in fatalities in 2002, confirming their role as a public health hazard. As with the organic hydrocarbons (chap. 27), exposure routes include oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The agents are most rapidly absorbed after inhalation, especially when delivered in aromatic hydrocarbon vehicle solvents.
