Effect of Pesticide Exposure on Immunological, Hematological and Biochemical Parameters in Thai Orchid Farmers— A Cross-Sectional Study

Soraya Aroonvilairat, Wannapa Kespichayawattana, Thiwaree Sornprachum, Papada Chaisuriya, Taweeratana Siwadune and Kavi Ratanabanangkoon
Additional contact information
Soraya Aroonvilairat: Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), and Laboratory of Immunology, Kampangpetch 6 Road, Lak-si, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Wannapa Kespichayawattana: Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), and Laboratory of Immunology, Kampangpetch 6 Road, Lak-si, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Thiwaree Sornprachum: Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), and Laboratory of Immunology, Kampangpetch 6 Road, Lak-si, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Papada Chaisuriya: Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), and Laboratory of Immunology, Kampangpetch 6 Road, Lak-si, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Taweeratana Siwadune: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Kavi Ratanabanangkoon: Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), and Laboratory of Immunology, Kampangpetch 6 Road, Lak-si, Bangkok 10210, Thailand

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Various studies have found that many Thai orchid farmers used excessive amounts of pesticides without proper protective gear, but no toxicological study has been made. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the immunological, hematological and biochemical statuses of these farmers. Sixty four orchid farmers and 60 controls were studied. Plasma cholinesterase activity, the percentage and absolute number of B lymphocytes (CD19 + ) were significantly lower in the farmers group (3966.32 ± 1165.48 U/L, 11.61 ± 4.09% and 312.26 ± 164.83 cells/mm3, respectively) as compared to those of controls (5048.85 ± 1139.40 U/L, 14.32 ± 4.23%, 420.34 ± 195.18 cells/mm 3 , respectively). There was a statistically significant higher level of serum IgE among the orchid farmers (0.031 ± 0.011 mg/dL vs. 0.018 ± 0.007 mg/dL) but not IgG, IgA and IgM, levels. Serum lysozyme level, lymphocyte proliferative responses to mitogens, hematological parameters and kidney function test, were not significantly different between the two groups. The liver function profiles showed significantly lower levels of albumin and serum protein in the farmer group. Thus frequent pesticide exposure resulted in subtle changes of some biological parameters. These changes, though may not be clinically significant, strongly indicated that caution in handing pesticides by these farmers is warranted.

Keywords: pesticide exposure; immunological and biochemical alterations; orchid farmers; cross-sectional study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/6/5846/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/6/5846/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:6:p:5846-5861:d:50210

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().