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Responding to a Pesticide Poisoning
Fact Sheet #30a, September 1999

Be prepared

    Post the phone number for your regional Poison Control Center near your phones. The Poison Control Center phone number is listed on the inside cover or first page of most phone books. Phone numbers for regional Poison Control Centers in New York State are listed below. In case of an emergency

    If a person is unconscious, not breathing, or convulsing, call 911 immediately. If you do not have 911 service, call the emergency number for your local ambulance service, police, or fire department.

    If you suspect an overexposure to a pesticide, contact your regional Poison Control Center immediately. Do not wait for symptoms to develop. Try to have the following information on hand when you call: the product's name or its label, how long the person was exposed to the pesticide, and by what route (on the skin, by breathing, by mouth). The Poison Control Center will direct you to what course of action to take.

Responding to animal poisonings

    Keep the telephone numbers for your veterinarian, regional Poison Control Center, and a local emergency veterinary service near your phones. Contact your veterinarian immediately if you suspect your animal has been poisoned. You may be asked for information on the pesticide product, how the animal was exposed, the amount of exposure, and any symptoms the animal is displaying. You may be required to bring your animal to the veterinarian for medical treatment. Your veterinarian may need to call the National Animal Poison Control Center. This 24-hour service is sponsored by the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and is maintained at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. New York State Poison Control Centers also provide information about animal poisonings.

What to do after the emergency?

    You should inform your personal physician about the poisoning episode. You may need to seek additional medical care from your physician. Any other symptoms you encounter should also be reported to your physician. If the poisoning happened at your workplace, your employer and/or other personnel administrators need to be informed, and you may be required to file a report. It is important to keep product labels and information about application methods to provide to health care providers and others who might investigate the incident.

Are there New York State agencies that track or investigate pesticide poisonings?

    The NYS Department of Health, Center for Environmental Health responds to concerns about pesticide misapplications, fires, spills, spray drift, and other incidents where there is a significant health concern. The Center also provides information to the general public on pesticide health effects and clean-up, and directs individuals to appropriate agencies and information sources.
      Phone: (1-800-458-1158) Website: http://www.health.state.ny.us

    The NYS Department of Health, Center for Environmental Health also monitors the occurrence of acute pesticide poisonings. Physicians, clinical labs, and health care facilities are required to report confirmed or suspected pesticide poisonings within 48 hours to the Pesticide Poisoning Registry via a 24-hour toll-free number. Registry staff follow-up on the information provided to collect standardized data on each case, verify that others are not at risk for overexposure, and develop information summarizing acute pesticide poisonings and ways to prevent poisoning. Annual summaries can be found on the NYS Department of Health web site http://www.health.state.ny.us or by calling 1-800-458-1158.

    The Bureau of Occupational Health, NYS Department of Health, oversees the operation of the NYS Occupational Health Clinic Network. This network consists of eight clinics located throughout the state that provide specialized medical screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention services. Individuals who think they may have health effects from pesticide exposure can call the clinic nearest them. To find the name and contact number for the clinic in your region you can call 1-800-458-1158 or the information is also available on the NYS Department of Health web page at http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/environ/occupate.htm.

Poison Control Centers Serving New York State


*Syracuse / Central New York: 1-800-252-5655 or (315) 476-4766
*Rochester / Finger Lakes: 1-800-333-0542 or (716) 273-5151
*North Tarrytown / Hudson Valley: 1-800-336-6997 or (914) 366-3030
*Mineola / Long Island: (516) 542-2323
*New York City: (212) 340-4494 or (212) P-O-I-S-O-N-S (TDD)
*Buffalo / Western New York: 1-800-888-7655 or (716) 878-7654
Erie, PA / South Western New York: 1-800-822-3232


*Certified by the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

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Prepared by Marie Stewart M.S., Extension Support Specialist, BCERF
and Suzanne Snedeker, PhD, Research Project Leader, BCERF

When reproducing this material, credit the authors and the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State.

Last Update 05.06.03