Increased Frequency of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Allergic Rhinitis among Pesticide Sprayers and Associations with Pesticide Use

Michalis Koureas, George Rachiotis, Andreas Tsakalof and Christos Hadjichristodoulou
Additional contact information
Michalis Koureas: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
George Rachiotis: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Andreas Tsakalof: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Christos Hadjichristodoulou: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-8

Abstract: Objective : The aim of this study was to identify diseases linked with the pesticide sprayer occupation and explore possible associations with exposure history data. Methods : ? cross sectional study was conducted among pesticide sprayers ( n = 80) and the general population ( n = 90) in Thessaly (Greece). Medical history, demographic characteristics and detailed exposure history were recorded by conducting personal interviews. Lifetime exposure indicators were calculated for several pesticide chemical subclasses. Moreover, organophosphate metabolite levels were quantified in urine samples of all participants by using gas chromatography -mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Multinomial analysis was used to determine associations between occupational pesticide exposure and diseases or disorders. Results : In the pesticide sprayers group, significantly higher frequencies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and allergic rhinitis were observed compared with the control group ( p = 0.002 and p = 0.024 respectively). Within the pesticide sprayers group, high lifetime pesticide exposure was associated with increased risk for reporting RA (OR: 43.07 95% CI: 3.09–600.67) and allergic rhinitis (OR: 9.72 95% CI: 2.31–40.89), compared with low pesticide exposure. Exposure to organophsphate, guanidine and quinone pesticides were associated with RA while organophosphates, pyrethroids and paraquat were associated with allergic rhinitis. Despite the higher levels of certain pesticide metabolites observed among participants with rheumatoid arthritis, the differences were not statistically significant. One metabolite (diethylthiophosphate) was found to be significantly increased in allergic rhinitis cases ( p = 0.037). Conclusion s : The results from the current study suggest a possible association of occupational pesticide exposure with RA and allergic rhinitis that should be further investigated.

Keywords: pesticides; rheumatoid arthritis; allergic rhinitis; sprayers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/865/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/865/ (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:14:y:2017:i:8:p:865-:d:106628

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 ().