A precise understanding of how widespread human poisoning from pesticides is globally has never been possible, because of a lack of conclusive information on the issue in many countries. T h e inevitable result of this lack of hard facts is a tendency for the basic pro and anti-pesticides camps to swing to extremes, and make exaggerated estimates based on assumptions favourable to their own causes. In 1972 a W H O Expert Committee estimated that around 500,000 people a year are poisoned by pesticides, of which some 5,000 are killed.1 In 1977 Copplestone, a regular member of W H O pesticide expert committees, made a more detailed survey of fatalities and estimated that the figure was nearer 20,640 a year.2 A 1985 W H O study confirmed an annual death toll of around 20,000 whilst also claiming that the total number of unintentional poisonings was around 1,000,000 annually.3