Effects of pesticides on the respiratory health of agricultural workers
| First author [ref.] | Country | Summary of method | Statistically significant main findings | ||
| Population | Pesticide exposure | Health outcomes | |||
| Respiratory diseases: asthma and bronchitis | |||||
| Senthilselvan [25] | Canada | 1939 farmers | Organophosphate, organochlorine, carbamate insecticides | Self-reported respiratory symptoms | Increased asthma with carbamate insecticide use |
| Kang [26] | USA | 1499 Vietnam veterans/ 1428 non-Vietnam veterans | Sprayed herbicides (Agent Orange) | Self-reported; chronic medical condition diagnosed by a doctor | Increased chronic bronchitis and asthma, elevated among Vietnam veterans who sprayed herbicides versus non-Vietnam veterans |
| Bener [27] | United Arab Emirates | 98 farmers/98 controls | Pesticides (not specified) | Lifelong respiratory symptoms | Increased chronic cough and asthma in farmers versus controls |
| Salameh [28] | Lebanon | 245 asthma cases/ 262 controls | Pesticides (not specified) | Confirmation of asthma by lung specialist | Increased asthma with any exposure to pesticides |
| Salameh [29] | Lebanon | 110 chronic bronchitis cases/262 controls | Pesticides (not specified) | Confirmation of chronic bronchitis by lung specialist | Increased chronic bronchitis according to increase in intensity and/or duration of different levels of exposure to pesticides |
| Respiratory symptoms | |||||
| Zuskin [30] | Croatia | 167 exposed/81 unexposed workers | Pesticides (not specified) | Lifelong respiratory symptoms | Increased chronic cough, dyspnoea and chest tightness in exposed females versus controls (p<0.01) |
| Zuskin [31] | Croatia | 174 exposed/115 unexposed workers | Pesticides (not specified) | Pulmonary function measures (spirometry) | Increased chronic cough and chronic phlegm (p<0.05) in workers employed for >10 years |
| Castro-Gutiérrez [32] | Nicaragua | 134 paraquat exposed/ 152 unexposed workers | Paraquat | Respiratory symptoms during the last 24 months | Increased episodic wheezing accompanied by shortness of breath among the more intensely exposed workers |
| Wilkins [33] | USA | 1793 farmers | Pesticides (not specified) | Respiratory symptoms during the last 12 months | Increased chronic cough with lifetime tractor operations |
| Sprince [34] | USA | 385 farmers | Agricultural pesticides (insecticides for crops and livestock, and herbicides) | Respiratory symptoms | Increased ever-wheezy chest due to applying pesticides to livestock |
| Beseler [35] | USA | 761 farm operators and spouses | Agricultural pesticides (not specified) | History of respiratory disorders and symptoms | Increased wheeze with pesticide poisoning in current smokers |
| Masley [36] | Canada | 511 males, 499 females and 393 children | Pesticides and fertilisers | Respiratory symptoms during life | Increase in one or more respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, wheeze or shortness of breath) with pesticide exposure |
| Schenker [37] | Costa Rica | 219 farm workers/110 controls | Paraquat | Respiratory symptoms | Increased shortness of breath with wheeze with each unit increase in the total cumulative paraquat index |
| Fieten [38] | Costa Rica | 69 exposed/58 unexposed workers | Terbufos, chlorpyrifos, paraquat | Respiratory symptoms during past year | Increased wheeze with exposure to the organophosphate insecticides chlorpyrifos and terbufos in nonsmokers |
| Faria [39] | Brazil | 1379 farmers | Organophosphates, pyrethroids and dithiocarbamates | Self-reported asthma and chronic respiratory diseases | Increased asthma symptoms and chronic respiratory disease symptoms with pesticide poisoning |
| Ejigu [40] | Ethiopia | 82 farm workers/47 controls | Agricultural pesticides (not specified) | Lifelong respiratory symptoms | Increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm and wheeze in farm workers versus controls (p<0.05) |
| Pathak [41] | India | 108 pesticide sprayers/ 30 controls | Agricultural pesticides | Respiratory symptoms | Increased respiratory symptoms with tractor-mounted sprayers compared to controls |
| Ngowi [42] | Tanzania | 133 coffee farm workers | Agricultural pesticides: fungicides, insecticides and herbicides | Respiratory symptoms during spraying and nonspraying seasons | No significant association |
| Jones [43] | USA | 100 pilots (aerial spraying of pesticides)/100 controls | Agricultural pesticides | Respiratory symptoms | No significant association |
| Abu Sham'a [44] | Palestine | 250 farmers | Agricultural pesticides not specified | Respiratory symptoms during the last 12 months | No significant association |
| Respiratory function | |||||
| Mekonnen [45] | Ethiopia | 102 pesticide sprayers/ 69 non-sprayers | Pesticides on the farms: chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion | Pulmonary function measurements | Decreased lung volumes (reduced FVC and FEV1) in the 15–24-year age group of pesticide sprayers compared to similarly aged non-sprayers |
| Hernández [46] | Spain | 89 pesticide sprayers/ 25 unexposed farm workers | 10 agricultural pesticides | Physical examination during the peak spraying season | Decreased FEF25–75% with lifelong cumulative exposure to pesticides; decreased lung volumes (restrictive disease) with recent exposure to neonicotinoids |
| Chakraborty [47] | India | 376 exposed/348 controls | Agricultural pesticides | Pulmonary function measurements | Decreased lung function in exposed workers compared to controls (p<0.001) |
| Cha [48] | South Korea | 2508 paraquat applicators/374 non-paraquat applicators | Paraquat | Report of doctor-diagnosed symptoms/diseases: COPD and asthma; pulmonary function measurements | Decreased restrictive ventilatory defect with paraquat application |
All the studies were cross-sectional except those of Salameh and co-workers [28, 29], which were case–control studies. FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FEF25–75%: forced expiratory flow at 25–75% of FVC; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.