Morbidity in newborns exposed to organophosphorus pesticides

Abstract

Insecticides are toxins by which we destroy harmful insects. The most frequent insecticides which are used today are organophosphorus pesticides. This group of compounds make substances whose activity mechanism is based on the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase in nerve synapsis, thus producing holynergic syndrome, resulting from the accumulation of acetylcholine which developed due to the absence of decomposition under the influence of cholinesterase. In the clinical picture of acute toxication by cholinesterase inhibitors there is a clear difference between muscarinic and nicotine effects. The basic aim of the study was to establish the effects of organophosphorus pesticides present in blood and breast milk of mothers on newborns morbidity. The study group consisted of 18 newborns whose mothers had isolated organophosphorus pesticides in their blood and breast-milk on the third day after delivery, and the control group consisted of 84 newborns whose mothers did not have isolated organophosphorus pesticides in their blood and breastmilk. Morbidity is three times greater, often in combination with some disorders of the central nervous system, and the relative risk for its appearance is eight time greater in newborns exposed to organophosphorus pesticides. Disorders that appear in newborns exposed to pesticides are mutagenic, cancerogenic and neurotoxic and some agenses could disturb the immune system which is reflected in morbidity increase, primarly of the central nervous system. The presence of organophosphorus pesticides in blood and breast milk has negative effects on newborns. In addition to acetylcholinesterase inhibition, organophosphorus pesticides react by means of other mechanisms as well.