The tiny nation of Suriname, on South America’s Atlantic coast, has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. A majority of those deaths involve a single substance: paraquat, a pesticide widely used for weed control that is lethal to humans in amounts as small as one swallow.

Pesticides are among the leading means of suicide in agricultural areas of developing nations, implicated in more than 100,000 deaths annually. Yet for years, their threat has been largely overlooked.

Now, a handful of researchers and philanthropists are pushing to change that, arguing that restricting access to the most lethal pesticides could be one of the simplest, most cost-effective ways to save lives.

Paraquat, one of the deadliest pesticides still on the market, is among their top targets. It is quickly absorbed by the body and has no antidote. Even a small dose causes multi-organ failure, though death may take hours or days.

That often leaves time for people who ingest it in a moment of despair to come to regret their decision, according to Dr. Esther Fong, an emergency physician at Suriname’s busiest hospital. “You see the death written on their foreheads,” she said, “but you cannot do anything about it.”

Paramedics, police officers and teachers see paraquat’s reach as inescapable.

“It’s very easy to find, and most every house has one bottle or more,” said Ashna Badrising, an English instructor at the E.H. Cabell School.

Last November, on the morning of Diwali, a holiday marking the triumph of light over darkness, one of her brightest students opened a bottle of the pesticide and took a swig. She died three days later.

“I see when someone is struggling or depressed,” Ms. Badrising said. “But I never expected this.”

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