Genotoxicity and Reproductive Risk in Workers Exposed to Pesticides in Rural Areas of Curicó, Chile: A Pilot Study

Natalia Landeros, Soledad Duk, Carolina Márquez, Bárbara Inzunza, Ian S. Acuña-Rodríguez and Liliana A. Zúñiga-Venegas ()
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Natalia Landeros: Centro Oncológico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Católica del Maule, Talca 3466706, Chile
Soledad Duk: Laboratorio de Citogenética y Genética Toxicológica, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile
Carolina Márquez: Laboratorio de Citogenética y Genética Toxicológica, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile
Bárbara Inzunza: Laboratorio de Citogenética y Genética Toxicológica, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile
Ian S. Acuña-Rodríguez: Instituto de Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias (I 3 ), Universidad de Talca, Talca 3465548, Chile
Liliana A. Zúñiga-Venegas: Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biomédicas (LIB), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Católica del Maule, Talca 3466706, Chile

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: Significant risks to human health have been associated with chronic exposure to low doses of pesticides, a situation which may be frequent among agricultural workers. In this context, and regarding the agricultural-based economy of central Chile, we aimed to explore the genotoxic damage in agricultural workers and reproductive risk among women in rural and urban areas of Curicó, a traditional agricultural district in Chile. Hence, we sampled a group of rural agricultural workers associated with pesticide management ( n = 30) and an urban unexposed group ( n = 30). Our results showed that the agricultural workers had higher micronuclei frequencies (MN: β = 13.27; 95% CI low = 11.08, CI high = 15.47) and women had a 40-fold higher risk of reproductive problems (OR = 40.32; 95% CI low = 2.60, CI high = 624.31) than the unexposed group. The factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) showed that neither the sex nor smoking habits appear to define the ordination of the data. Nevertheless, the exposure level did segregate them in the multidimensional space (explained variance: 35.38% dim-1; 18.63% dim-2). This pilot study highlights the higher risks of biological conditions negatively associated with the health of agricultural workers.

Keywords: genotoxicity; reproductive risk; agricultural workers; pesticide exposure; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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