Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region

Introduction: Pesticides are extensively used in agriculture to control harmful pests and prevent crop yield losses or product damage. In Tanzania several studies have been conducted on health effects of pesticides on agricultural workers. However, there are few studies on neurological health sympto...

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Autores principales:	Suten Geofrey Mwabulambo, Ezra Jonathan Mrema, Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi, Simon Mamuya
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Ubiquity Press 2018
Materias:	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2f76f60bd9784695ad7fa4346ccc3051
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2f76f60bd9784695ad7fa4346ccc30512021-12-02T00:09:51ZHealth Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region2214-999610.29024/aogh.2303https://doaj.org/article/2f76f60bd9784695ad7fa4346ccc30512018-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/2303https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996Introduction: Pesticides are extensively used in agriculture to control harmful pests and prevent crop yield losses or product damage. In Tanzania several studies have been conducted on health effects of pesticides on agricultural workers. However, there are few studies on neurological health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure in flower and onion farms. Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure among flower and onion pesticide applicators in the Arusha region, Tanzania. Methods: Data on demographic variables and health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure were collected from 140 males who were employed in spraying pesticides on flower and onion farms in Arusha, Meru and Karatu districts between April and May 2017. The study participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire with questions focusing sociodemographic characteristics, occupation, pesticide exposure, common type of pesticide used in the area and neurological symptoms experienced during and after pesticide spraying. To determine the intensity of pesticide exposure, acetylcholinesterase assay was done by using the Test-mate Model 400 device with a photometric sensor. Results: Ninety-five percent of pesticide applicators reported handling organophosphate pesticides. Body weakness was the most frequently reported neurological symptom (57.1%) followed by perspiration and headache (40.7%), poor appetite and depression (29.3%) and irritation (26.4%). About 27% of pesticide applicators had an acetylcholinesterase level below the limit value. Conclusion: A high proportion of neurological health symptoms and cholinesterase test depression was noted among pesticide applicators in both farms. There is a need to conduct further studies to ascertain causality for such high instances of neurological symptoms.Suten Geofrey MwabulamboEzra Jonathan MremaAiwerasia Vera NgowiSimon MamuyaUbiquity PressarticleInfectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 84, Iss 3, Pp 369-379 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Suten Geofrey Mwabulambo Ezra Jonathan Mrema Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi Simon Mamuya Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
description	Introduction: Pesticides are extensively used in agriculture to control harmful pests and prevent crop yield losses or product damage. In Tanzania several studies have been conducted on health effects of pesticides on agricultural workers. However, there are few studies on neurological health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure in flower and onion farms. Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure among flower and onion pesticide applicators in the Arusha region, Tanzania. Methods: Data on demographic variables and health symptoms associated with pesticide exposure were collected from 140 males who were employed in spraying pesticides on flower and onion farms in Arusha, Meru and Karatu districts between April and May 2017. The study participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire with questions focusing sociodemographic characteristics, occupation, pesticide exposure, common type of pesticide used in the area and neurological symptoms experienced during and after pesticide spraying. To determine the intensity of pesticide exposure, acetylcholinesterase assay was done by using the Test-mate Model 400 device with a photometric sensor. Results: Ninety-five percent of pesticide applicators reported handling organophosphate pesticides. Body weakness was the most frequently reported neurological symptom (57.1%) followed by perspiration and headache (40.7%), poor appetite and depression (29.3%) and irritation (26.4%). About 27% of pesticide applicators had an acetylcholinesterase level below the limit value. Conclusion: A high proportion of neurological health symptoms and cholinesterase test depression was noted among pesticide applicators in both farms. There is a need to conduct further studies to ascertain causality for such high instances of neurological symptoms.
format	article
author	Suten Geofrey Mwabulambo Ezra Jonathan Mrema Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi Simon Mamuya
author_facet	Suten Geofrey Mwabulambo Ezra Jonathan Mrema Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi Simon Mamuya
author_sort	Suten Geofrey Mwabulambo
title	Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
title_short	Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
title_full	Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
title_fullStr	Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
title_full_unstemmed	Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region
title_sort	health symptoms associated with pesticides exposure among flower and onion pesticide applicators in arusha region
publisher	Ubiquity Press
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/2f76f60bd9784695ad7fa4346ccc3051
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Health Symptoms Associated with Pesticides Exposure among Flower and Onion Pesticide Applicators in Arusha Region

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