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Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study

The flower industry in East Africa has grown in recent years, especially in the production and export of roses. The aim of this study was to assess pesticide use on selected flower farms in Ethiopia. Serum cholinesterase levels in workers were used as a marker of pesticide exposure. This study was a...

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Autores principales: Shentema, Meaza Gezu, Kumie, Abera, Bråtveit, Magne, Deressa, Wakgari, Ngowi, Aiwerasia Vera, Moen, Bente E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7037783/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32033179
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030964
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author Shentema, Meaza Gezu
Kumie, Abera
Bråtveit, Magne
Deressa, Wakgari
Ngowi, Aiwerasia Vera
Moen, Bente E.
author_facet Shentema, Meaza Gezu
Kumie, Abera
Bråtveit, Magne
Deressa, Wakgari
Ngowi, Aiwerasia Vera
Moen, Bente E.
author_sort Shentema, Meaza Gezu
collection PubMed
description The flower industry in East Africa has grown in recent years, especially in the production and export of roses. The aim of this study was to assess pesticide use on selected flower farms in Ethiopia. Serum cholinesterase levels in workers were used as a marker of pesticide exposure. This study was a cross-sectional study involving 588 workers from 15 different flower farms. It had a response rate of 95.5%. The participants included 277 males (mean age 26 years; 148 pesticide sprayers and 129 non-sprayers) and 311 females (mean age 25 years; 156 working in greenhouses and 155 working outside the greenhouses). The researchers undertook structured interviews, blood sampling, and walkthrough surveys. Descriptive statistics and Poisson regression were used in the statistical analyses. A total of 154 different trade names of pesticides were found. Of them, 31 (27%) were classified as moderately hazardous by the WHO, and 9% were organophosphates. Serum levels of cholinesterase deviating from 50–140 Michel units were considered abnormal. Abnormal serum cholinesterase levels (above 140 Michel units) were found in 97 participants (16.5%, 95% confidence interval 13.7–19.7%). There were no differences between the four job groups regarding cholinesterase levels. The high prevalence of abnormal serum cholinesterase levels might indicate the presence of pesticide intoxication. Thus, there is a need for routine monitoring of all workers exposed to pesticides, not only sprayers.
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spelling pubmed-70377832020-03-10 Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study Shentema, Meaza Gezu Kumie, Abera Bråtveit, Magne Deressa, Wakgari Ngowi, Aiwerasia Vera Moen, Bente E. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The flower industry in East Africa has grown in recent years, especially in the production and export of roses. The aim of this study was to assess pesticide use on selected flower farms in Ethiopia. Serum cholinesterase levels in workers were used as a marker of pesticide exposure. This study was a cross-sectional study involving 588 workers from 15 different flower farms. It had a response rate of 95.5%. The participants included 277 males (mean age 26 years; 148 pesticide sprayers and 129 non-sprayers) and 311 females (mean age 25 years; 156 working in greenhouses and 155 working outside the greenhouses). The researchers undertook structured interviews, blood sampling, and walkthrough surveys. Descriptive statistics and Poisson regression were used in the statistical analyses. A total of 154 different trade names of pesticides were found. Of them, 31 (27%) were classified as moderately hazardous by the WHO, and 9% were organophosphates. Serum levels of cholinesterase deviating from 50–140 Michel units were considered abnormal. Abnormal serum cholinesterase levels (above 140 Michel units) were found in 97 participants (16.5%, 95% confidence interval 13.7–19.7%). There were no differences between the four job groups regarding cholinesterase levels. The high prevalence of abnormal serum cholinesterase levels might indicate the presence of pesticide intoxication. Thus, there is a need for routine monitoring of all workers exposed to pesticides, not only sprayers. MDPI 2020-02-04 2020-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7037783/ /pubmed/32033179 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030964 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Shentema, Meaza Gezu
Kumie, Abera
Bråtveit, Magne
Deressa, Wakgari
Ngowi, Aiwerasia Vera
Moen, Bente E.
Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Pesticide Use and Serum Acetylcholinesterase Levels among Flower Farm Workers in Ethiopia—A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort pesticide use and serum acetylcholinesterase levels among flower farm workers in ethiopia—a cross-sectional study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7037783/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32033179
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030964
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