• Mohammad Amin Rashidi, Hassan Asilian Mahabadi, Ali Khavanin, and Leila Tajik.
• Student Research Committee, Department of Occupational Health and Safety, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
• Afr Health Sci. 2022 Sep 1; 22 (3): 681696681-696.

BackgroundOrganophosphate (OP) pesticides are one of the most extensively used chemical compounds all over the world.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine whether occupational exposure of the formulators to the OP pesticides, under normal working conditions, is associated with any hematotoxic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, neurotoxic, and respirotoxic responses among them.Methods28 OP formulation plant workers and 17 office workers participated in this cross-sectional study as the exposed and control groups, respectively. Blood and urine samples were collected to measure hematological, biochemical, and urinalysis parameters. American thoracic society questionnaire and spirometry tests were employed to assess the function of their respiratory system. Q16 questionnaire was also used to investigate the prevalence of neurobehavioral symptoms. The data were analyzed by SPSS v.22 software using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, T-test, Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, Fisher, Pearson, and Spearman tests.ResultsNo statistically significant difference was found in hematological, biochemical, urinalysis (except in specific gravity), spirometry parameters, as well as respiratory and neurobehavioral symptoms between the exposed and the control groups. For the exposed group, however, the means of spirometry parameters were significantly lower among the smokers.ConclusionsIn this study, the expected adverse health effects due to exposure to OP pesticides were not observed among the formulators; however, the risk of developing respiratory dysfunction was found to be more considerable among smoker subjects than the non-smoker ones. Further investigations are required to determine whether formulators' occupational exposures to OP pesticides result in certain adverse health effects.© 2022 Rashidi MA et al.

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