14 research outputs found
An association between organophosphate pesticides exposure and Parkinsonism amongst people in an agricultural area in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand
Background. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a ubiquitous disease. However, PDs prevalence in the population of agricultural communities lacks understanding and there has been no epidemiological study on the association between pesticides exposure
factors and risk for PD.
Objective. To investigate the potential association between organophosphate pesticides exposure and Parkinsonism by using a screening questionnaire in agricultural areas.
Material and Methods. Ninety elderly people living in agricultural areas participated in a cross-sectional study conducted at Tambon Hua-Rua Health Promoting Hospital in April 2014. Screening questionnaires for Parkinson’s disease, Test-mate ChE (Model 400) for blood cholinesterase (ChE) levels of both blood enzymes erythrocyte cholinesterase (AChE), and plasma cholinesterase (PChE) were used as measurement tools. Descriptive statistics for frequencies and percentage distributions were used primarily to summarize and describe the data. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were calculated.
Results. The age range of the participants was 50 to 59 years old, with an average age of 53.9+2.87 years. The majority of the participants were female (62.2%), 82.2% of respondents were farmers. Most of participants (76.7%) reported that they applied insecticides in their farms. Ninety persons participated and completed the 11-item questionnaire. Of these, 17 (18.9%) felt that they lost balance when turning or that they needed to take a few steps to turn right around and 16.7% of participants indicated that they felt the need to move slowly or stiffly. The study found the prevalence of abnormal AChE levels was 28.9% (95%CI=19.81-39.40) and 17.8% of PChE levels (95%CI=10.52-27.26). To predict Parkinsonism, AChE, and PChE level, with a cutoff score of 5 or higher there had to be a sensitivity of 0.31, specificity of 1.00, positive predictive value (PPV) of 1.00 and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.78 for AChE. While PChE, the score value of 5 or more had a sensitivity of 0.19, specificity of 0.93, PPV of 0.38 and NPV of 0.84.
Conclusion. This study described an association between pesticides exposure and Parkinsonism. The questionnaire appears to be useful for Thai agriculturists as a screening tool for Parkinsonism and cholinesterase levels regarding to pesticides exposure
Organophosphate pesticide exposure and dialkyl phosphate urinary metabolites among chili farmers in Northeastern Thailand
Background. Chlorpyrifos and profenofos are organophosphate pesticides (OPPs), we studied exposure and urinary metabolites
in an agricultural area in the northeastern of Thailand during the chili-growing season (March - April) in 2012.
Objective. This study was designed to assess pesticide exposure concentration through dermal and inhalation pathways and
to find and depict a relationship between urinary metabolites and means of exposure.
Materials and methods. To estimate the pesticides exposure concentration, dermal wipes (hand, face, and feet), dermal
patches and air samples were collected from 38 chili farmers. The morning void of pre and post application urine samples
was an indicator of biological monitoring in the study which derived from 39 chili farmers.
Results. Chlorpyrifos and profenofos residues were detected on dermal patches, face wipes, and hand wipe samples, while
no significant residues were found on the feet. Using a personal air sampling technique, all air samples detected pesticide
residues. However, significant correlation between dermal pesticide exposure concentration and inhalation was not found
(p>0.05). For urinary metabolite levels, there was a relationship between the first pre application morning void and post
application morning void (p<0.05); similar to the association between the first pre application morning void and the second
post application morning void (p<0.05). The main relationship between pesticide exposure and urinary metabolite was found
to have been relevant to dermal exposure (r= 0.405; p<0.05).
Conclusions. The results of this study could suggested that public health education training programs, including the use of
appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), should be offered for the chili growing farmers in order to improve their
ability to properly use pesticides.Wprowadzenie. Chlorpiryfos i profenofos należą do pestycydów fosforoorganicznych (OPPs) stosowanych w rolnictwie, dlatego
narażenie na te związki badano w północnowschodniej Tajlandii w okresie uprawy chili (marzec – kwiecień) w 2012 roku.
Cel. Celem badania była ocena narażenia na pestycydy przez skórę i drogi oddechowe oraz zbadanie zależności pomiędzy
stężeniami metabolitów w moczu a drogą narażenia.
Materiał i metoda. Do oceny wielkości narażenia wykorzystano wymazy z rąk, twarzy i stóp i naskórne plastry absorpcyjne
oraz próbki powietrza pobierane za pomocą indywidualnych próbników u 39 rolników uprawiających chili.
Wyniki. Pozostałości chlorpiryfosu i profenofosu stwierdzano na plastrach absorpcyjnych, wymazach z twarzy i rąk,
podczas gdy w wymazach ze stóp nie stwierdzano znaczących ilości tych pestycydów. We wszystkich próbkach powietrza
stwierdzono obecność pestycydów. Jednakże, nie wykazano znaczącej korelacji pomiędzy wielkością narażenia przez skórę
i drogi oddechowe (p>0.05). W przypadku poziomów metabolitów w moczu, wykazano zależność pomiędzy poziomami
metabolitów w moczu przed i po pierwszym zabiegu wykonywanym rano (p<0.05). Zależność pomiędzy narażeniem na
pestycydy a stwierdzanymi metabolitami w moczu wynikała z narażenia przez skórę (r= 0.405; p<0.05).
Wnioski. Wyniki niniejszych badań mogą sugerować potrzebę wprowadzenia programów edukacyjnych z zakresu zdrowia
publicznego, uwzględniających stosowanie przez hodowców chili odpowiedniego sprzętu ochrony osobistej, w celu poprawy
możliwości właściwego stosowania pestycydów