Biomonitoring of Toxic Effects of Pesticides in Occupationally Exposed Individuals

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: Workers in pesticide manufacturing industries are constantly exposed to pesticides. Genetic biomonitoring provides an early identification of potential cancer and genetic diseases in exposed populations. The objectives of this biomonitoring study were to assess DNA damage through comet assay in blood samples collected from industry workers and compare these results with those of classical analytical techniques used for complete blood count analysis.

Methods: Samples from controls (n = 20) and exposed workers (n = 38) from an industrial area in Multan, Pakistan, were subjected to various tests. Malathion residues in blood samples were measured by gas chromatography.

Results: The exposed workers who were employed in the pesticide manufacturing industry for a longer period (i.e., 13-25 years) had significantly higher DNA tail length (7.04 ㎛) than the controls (0.94 ㎛).

Workers in the exposed group also had higher white blood cell and red blood cell counts, and lower levels of mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), MCH concentration, and mean corpuscular volume in comparison with normal levels for these parameters. Malathion was not detected in the control group.

However, in the exposed group, 72% of whole blood samples had malathion with a mean value of 0.14 mg/L (range 0.01-0.31 mg/L).

Conclusion: We found a strong correlation (R2 = 0.91) between DNA damage in terms of tail length and malathion concentration in blood. Intensive efforts and trainings are thus required to build awareness about safety practices and to change industrial workers’ attitude to prevent harmful environmental and anthropogenic effects.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Pereira TS, "Toxicogenetic monitoring in urban cities exposed to different airborne contaminants" 90 : 174-182, 2013

2 Kvitko K, "Susceptibility to DNA damage in workers occupationally exposed to pesticides, to tannery chemicals and to coal dust during mining" 35 : 1060-1068, 2012

3 Del Prado-Lu JL, "Pesticide exposure, risk factors and health problems among cutflower farmers: a cross sectional study" 2 : 9-, 2007

4 "Pakistan Economic Survey: 2011-12"

5 Merhi M, "Occupational exposure to pesticides and risk of hematopoietic cancers: metaanalysis of case-control studies" 18 : 1209-1226, 2007

6 Swati PG, "In vitro toxicity evaluation of organic extract of landfill soil and its detoxification by indigenous pyrene-degrading Bacillus sp. ISTPY1" 90 : 145-151, 2014

7 Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations, "How to feed the world in 2050?"

8 Flessel P, "Genetic toxicity of malathion: a review" 22 : 7-17, 1993

9 Shaham J, "Frequency of sister-chromatid exchange among greenhouse farmers exposed to pesticides" 491 : 71-80, 2001

10 Padmavathi P, "Frequencies of SCEs in peripheral blood lymphocytes of pesticides workers" 64 : 155-160, 2000

11 World Health Organization, "Exposure to malathion: a major public health concern. Preventing disease through healthy environments" WHO 2010

12 Grover P, "Evaluation of genetic damage in workers employed in pesticide production utilizing the comet assay" 18 : 201-205, 2003

13 Garaj-Vrhovac V, "Evaluation of DNA damage in workers occupationally exposed to pesticides using single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE)assay. Pesticide genotoxicity revealed by comet assay" 469 : 279-285, 2000

14 Huang Y, "Efficacy of binary combinations of botanical pesticides for rotifer elimination in microalgal cultivation" 154 : 67-73, 2014

15 Khalaf-Allah SS, "Effect of pesticide water pollution on some haematological, biochemical and immunological parameters in Tilapia nilotica fish" 106 : 67-71, 1999

16 Ntougias S, "Diversity and efficiency of anthracene-degrading bacteria isolated from a denitrifying activated sludge system treating municipal wastewater" 97 : 151-158, 2015

17 Danadevi K, "DNA damage in workers exposed to lead using comet assay" 187 : 183-193, 2003

18 Lebailly P, "DNA damage in mononuclear leukocytes of farmers measured using the alkaline comet assay: discussion of critical parameters and evaluation of seasonal variations in relation to pesticide exposure" 7 : 917-927, 1998

19 Bhalli JA, "DNA damage in Pakistani pesticidemanufacturing workers assayed using the comet assay" 47 : 587-593, 2006

20 Lucero L, "Cytogenetic biomonitoring of Spanish greenhouse workers exposed to pesticides:micronuclei analysis in peripheral blood lymphocytes and buccal epithelial cells" 464 : 255-262, 2000

21 Gómez-Arroyo S, "Cytogenetic biomonitoring in a Mexican floriculture worker group exposed to pesticides" 466 : 117-124, 2000

22 Bolognesi C, "Cytogenetic analysis of a human population occupationally exposed to pesticides" 285 : 239-249, 1993

23 Pastor S, "Cytogenetic analysis of Greek farmers using the micronucleus assay in peripheral lymphocytes and buccal cells" 16 : 539-545, 2001

24 Srivastava AK, "Chronic effects of hexachlorocyclohexane exposure: clinical, hematologic and electrocardiographic studies" 37 : 302-305, 1995

25 Antonucci GA, "Chromosomal aberrations analysis in a Brazilian population exposed to pesticides" 20 : 265-272, 2000

26 Zeljezic D, "Chromosomal aberration and single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay in the longitudinal risk assessment of occupational exposure to pesticides" 16 : 359-363, 2011

27 Foureman P, "Chemical mutagenesis testing in Drosophila. X. Results of 70 coded chemicals tested for the National Toxicology Program" 23 : 208-227, 1994

28 Dong W, "Biodegradation of fenoxaprop-ethyl by an enriched consortium and its proposed metabolic pathway" 97 : 159-167, 2015

29 United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Office of Pesticides Programs, "Annual report" USEPA

30 Singh NP, "A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cells" 175 : 184-191, 1988

31 Cabello G, "A rat mammary tumor model induced by the organophosphorus pesticides parathion and malathion, possibly through acetylcholinesterase inhibition" 109 : 471-479, 2001

32 Heepchantree W, "A biological evaluation of DNA damage detected by comet assay in healthy populations residing in areas that differ in lung cancer incidence" 69 : 1071-1082, 2006