Abstract
Pesticides have been widely used to control pest and pest-related diseases in agriculture, fishery, forestry and the food industry. In this review, we identify a number of respiratory symptoms and diseases that have been associated with occupational pesticide exposures. Impaired lung function has also been observed among people occupationally exposed to pesticides. There was strong evidence for an association between occupational pesticide exposure and asthma, especially in agricultural occupations. In addition, we found suggestive evidence for a link between occupational pesticide exposure and chronic bronchitis or COPD. There was inconclusive evidence for the association between occupational pesticide exposure and lung cancer. Better control of pesticide uses and enforcement of safety behaviors, such as using personal protection equipment (PPE) in the workplace, are critical for reducing the risk of developing pesticide-related symptoms and diseases. Educational training programs focusing on basic safety precautions and proper uses of personal protection equipment (PPE) are possible interventions that could be used to control the respiratory diseases associated with pesticide exposure in occupational setting.
Highlights
Pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, bactericides and rodenticides, are widely used to control pests and pest-induced diseases [1]
A matched case-control study of agricultural workers in Eastern India showed that compared to controls, agricultural workers who sprayed organophosphate and carbamate pesticides had significant depletion of red blood cell acetylcholinesterase (AchE), and the depletion of AchE was significantly associated with almost all respiratory symptoms, including runny or stuffy nose (OR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.98–4.63), sore throat (OR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.29–2.43), dry cough (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.92–4.41), wheezing (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.33–2.46), breathlessness (OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 2.06–3.82), chest tightness (OR = 3.26, 95% CI: 2.23–5.17) and dyspnea (OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.89–4.13), as well as chronic bronchitis (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.48–3.74) and doctor diagnosed asthma (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.09–1.79) [48]
This review is not exhaustive in its scope or depth, studies reviewed in this paper have strongly suggested an adverse effect of pesticide exposures on human respiratory health in occupational settings
Summary
Pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, bactericides and rodenticides, are widely used to control pests and pest-induced diseases [1]. It has been estimated that the incidence rate of pesticide-related illness in the workplace was approximately 1.17 per 100,000 full time equivalent workers (FTEs) [8]. Respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing and airway inflammation, are commonly observed among people exposed to pesticides [9,10]. We searched English-language studies, reports and abstracts between 1990 and September 2013 in MEDLINE using key words (including synonyms and plural forms) and combinations of key words, including occupation, workplace, pesticide, insecticide, herbicide, respiratory, pulmonary, airway, lung function, infection, asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer, Searching strategy included cross-referencing of research and review papers. Studies of non-occupational or environmental pesticide exposures were excluded
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