Exposure to Pesticides and Health Effects on Farm Owners and Workers From Conventional and Organic Agricultural Farms in Costa Rica: Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Study.

Autor:	Fuhrimann S; School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa., Winkler MS; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland., Staudacher P; Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland., Weiss FT; Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland., Stamm C; Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland., Eggen RI; Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland., Lindh CH; Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden., Menezes-Filho JA; Laboratory of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Bahia, Bahia, Brazil., Baker JM; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States., Ramírez-Muñoz F; Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica., Gutiérrez-Vargas R; Centro de Investigación y Diagnóstico en Salud y Deporte, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica., Mora AM; Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	JMIR research protocols [JMIR Res Protoc] 2019 Jan 25; Vol. 8 (1), pp. e10914. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Jan 25.
DOI:	10.2196/10914
Abstrakt:	Background: Pesticide use is increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including Costa Rica. This increase poses health risks to farm owners, farm workers, and communities living near agricultural farms. Objective: We aimed to examine the health effects associated with occupational pesticide exposure in farm owners and workers from conventional and organic smallholder farms in Costa Rica. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 300 owners and workers from organic and conventional horticultural smallholder farms in Zarcero County, Costa Rica. During the baseline study visit, we administered a structured, tablet-based questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, pesticide exposure, and health conditions (eg, respiratory and allergic outcomes and acute pesticide intoxication symptoms) and administered a neurobehavioral test battery (eg, Finger Tapping Test and Purdue Pegboard); we measured blood pressure, anthropometry (height, weight, and waist circumference), and erythrocytic acetylcholinesterase activity and also collected urine samples. In addition, a functional neuroimaging assessment using near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted with a subset of 50 study participants. During the follow-up study visit (~2-4 weeks after the baseline), we administered participants a short questionnaire on recent pesticide exposure and farming practices and collected hair, toenail, and urine samples. Urine samples will be analyzed for various pesticide metabolites, whereas toenails and hair will be analyzed for manganese (Mn), a biomarker of exposure to Mn-containing fungicides. Self-reported pesticide exposure data will be used to develop exposure intensity scores using an exposure algorithm. Furthermore, exposure-outcome associations will be examined using linear and logistic mixed-effects regression models. Results: Fieldwork for our study was conducted between May 2016 and August 2016. In total, 113 farm owners and 187 workers from 9 organic and 83 conventional horticultural smallholder farms were enrolled. Data analyses are ongoing and expected to be published between 2019 and 2020. Conclusions: This study is one of the first to examine differences in health effects due to pesticide exposure between farm owners and workers from organic and conventional smallholder farms in an LMIC. We expect that this study will provide critical data on farming practices, exposure pathways, and how occupational exposure to pesticides may affect farm owners and workers' health. Finally, we hope that this study will allow us to identify strategies to reduce pesticide exposure in farm owners and workers and will potentially lay the groundwork for a future longitudinal study of health outcomes in farm owners and workers exposed to pesticides. International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/10914. (©Samuel Fuhrimann, Mirko S Winkler, Philipp Staudacher, Frederik T Weiss, Christian Stamm, Rik IL Eggen, Christian H Lindh, José A Menezes-Filho, Joseph M Baker, Fernando Ramírez-Muñoz, Randall Gutiérrez-Vargas, Ana M Mora. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 25.01.2019.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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